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Ayako Ishikawa - Violin
Born in Tokyo, Ayako began playing violin at the age of four, and
was the youngest ever to enter the prestige music school in London;
the Purcell School, where the patrons included HRH The Prince
of Wales, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Sir Simon Rattle. She has since
studied music in London, Tokyo and Sydney, and has entered the
University of Sydney - Sydney Conservatorium of Music as one of the
top students, receiving the Merit Scholarship.
Being the first prize winner of many competitions, Ayako was selected
as “Best Performer of 2003” at Australia’s Overall Instrumental
Winner’s Concert. She went on to win the Tokyo, Kanagawa and
Chiba sections at the Japan Classical Competition in 2000, as well as
the Australian Musician’s Academy Award in 2001.
She is also the winner of every sections she entered in the City of Sydney Performing Arts
Challenge in 2003. Other achievements include receiving 100% in her HSC for Music Extension,
resulting in her composition and performance being nominated to be presented at the Sydney
Opera House.
Ayako has performed internationally as a soloist, and her performances were broadcasted live a
number of times on 2MBS-FM and ABC Classic-FM.
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Hiroaki Yura - Violin
The founder of Eminence, and an exalted musician himself, Hiroaki
has given many performances internationally as solo violinist.
Since a very young age, he has won countless competitions and has
received the best scholarships from every institution he has attended.
Hiroaki has been selected out of many competitors around the world to
represent Australia and Japan in many of the prestigious international
violin competitions, winning many honours such as the laureate of the
7th Etoh Toshiya International Violin Competition in Tokyo, Japan.
He has had many professional engagements, performing recitals with Alexandria Gavriluk,
Alexey Yemtsov and as a concert soloist with world’s top orchestras such as the Japan
Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shanghai Symphony orchestra.
Many of today’s leading violinists have critically acclaimed Hiroaki, including the likes of Pinchas
Zukerman, Robert Masters, Zakher Bron and Salvatore Accardo. A celebrated music critic from
the Mainichi Shinbun, Hiroyuki Iwai has quoted Hiroaki’s playing as “The best I have ever
heard”.
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Passion will also feature:
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Natalia Raspopova - Piano
Natalia Raspopova began her studies at a young age when she
attended the State Music School, studying with Tatiana Plotnikova.
Later in 1995, Natalia went to the State College of Arts and Music, at
the age of thirteen.
In 1998, she continued her studies under the supervision of Roger
Woodward, completing her first Bachelor of Music Degree (with
Honours) at the University of New England, performing Rachmaninoff’s
third Concerto for Piano and Orchestra. In 2001 she continued her
studies with Natalia Scheludiakova at the Sydney Conservatorium of
Music, where she completed her second Bachelor Degree of Music in 2004.
Natalia has performed at the Sydney Opera House as a guest at “Sydney Spring Festival” in
2000, performing contemporary music and was a finalist of the James Fairfax Young Artists
Program in 2000. She went on to record Mozart’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, k.488, with
the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Harding. Natalia recently debuted in the
Eminence Symphony Orchestra, at “A Night in Fantasia 2006”.
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Joshua Hill - Percussion
Josh Hill is a graduate from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music
where he studied percussion with Daryl Pratt and Richard Miller.
He performed with many of the Conservatorium’s Orchestras and
Ensembles, including a tour to Brazil with the Percussion Quartet
and to Noumea with the Chamber Orchestra He was also a soloist
with the Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra as a part of the Sydney
Symphony’s Contemporary Music Festival. Josh has been a member
of the Sydney Sinfonia and Australian Youth Orchestra, and has also
performed with the Royal Ballet, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Sydney
Opera House Chamber Orchestra, and at the Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony with Michael
Askill’s “Fire Percussion”. He also took part in the Young Australia Concert Artists program with
AYO and Synergy Percussion. Josh is currently an active performer and music educator around
Sydney and is a member of the Wind Trace New Music Ensemble and Interplay Percussion
Duo. He has been a member of Eminence Symphony Orchestra since 2004 and also played in
Destiny: The Dream Time Ensemble and the World of John Williams concerts.
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Zane Banks - Guitar
We welcome our guitarist, Zane Banks to his first Eminence concert.
He began playing popular guitar at the age of nine and completed all
AMEB ‘Contemporary Popular Music Advanced Guitar’ levels by Year
10. In 2005 he performed at the N.S.W. Department of Education’s
‘Encore’ concert which showcased the top performers and composers
in the Higher School Certificate music examinations. He is currently
studying a Bachelor of Performance, Classical Guitar at the Sydney
Conservatorium of Music.
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