Rachel Howie began playing the flute at eight years old, in Hobart, after hearing Peter and the Wolf and deciding she wanted to be the ‘bird’. She received her Bachelor of Music degree with first class honours from the Australian National University, where she studied with Vernon Hill and Virginia Taylor. She then studied for six months with Trevor Wye in the United Kingdom. Rachel completed a Masters of Music Studies degree, studying with Emma Sholl at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and was awarded the Patricia Bell Grant.

Rachel was principal flute of the Australian Youth Orchestra in 2015, having participated regularly in their programs since 2007. She has also performed with the SSO Sinfonia and the Queensland and Tasmanian symphony orchestras. As a soloist, she has performed the Nielsen Flute Concerto with the Canberra Youth Orchestra, and, with flautist Kelsey Robinson, the Dall’Abaco Double Concerto in E Minor with the AYO Momentum Ensemble. Rachel also studies baroque flute with Melissa Farrow.

Sydney-born oboist Eve Osborn attended the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where she studied with Alexandre Oguey, Shefali Pryor and Ngaire De Korte. While a student, she was twice chosen to attend the Estivo Chamber Music Summer School in Verona, and she toured to Vietnam with the cast of Opera Australia’s La Boheme. She also attended the 10th International Oboe Course in Corfu, Greece, participating in masterclasses with Thomas Indermühle and Spyros Kontos.

In 2017 Eve moved to Melbourne to study at the Australian National Academy of Music, where she learnt from Jeffrey Crellin (Principal Oboe of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) and performed with such artists as Stefan Dohr, Anthony Marwood and Simone Young. In the same year she played with the Melbourne and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, and the Australian World Orchestra.

Melbourne-born clarinettist Magdalenna Krstevska is steadily paving her way as one of Australia's leading young musicians. She graduated from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music with first class honours, and recently completed her studies at the Australian National Academy of Music, studying with David Thomas. Her accolades include the Australian National Young Virtuoso of the Year and 3MBS Young Performer of the Year Awards, and in 2017 she was a finalist in the ANAM Concerto Competition, performing the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

Magdalenna has performed with professional and top youth orchestras throughout Australia. Notable experiences include performances with the Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, and the Australian World Orchestra, as well as touring internationally and playing principal clarinet with the Australian Youth Orchestra.

Sydney-born Alison Wormell completed her Bachelor of Music Performance degree with first class honours in 2017, studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Andrew Barnes. She also studied contrabassoon with Noriko Shimada (SSO), culminating in her honours thesis addressing 21st-century orchestral contrabassoon repertoire. While at university, Alison received the Kim Walker Scholarship, and attended the 2015 Sydney Conservatorium Estivo Chamber Music Summer School in Verona, Italy, under full scholarship. She has also played in masterclasses for musicians such as Gustavo Núñez, Martin Kuuksmann and Rachel Gough.

Alison has performed as a guest musician with the Sydney and Adelaide symphony orchestras, and in 2017 completed a Fellowship with the ASO. She has played principal bassoon with the Australian Youth Orchestra since 2017, and in 2016 was principal bassoon of the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute. As the winner of the 2017 Sydney Conservatorium Concerto Competition, this year she will perform Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto with the Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra.

Perth-born Aidan Gabriels comes from a family of four, all of whom began playing violin at a young age. He studied violin from the age of five and at ten he received a scholarship to begin studying French horn at John XXIII College. He has since studied with some of Australia’s leading horn players, including Robert Gladstones, Peter Luff, Ysolt Clarke and Ben Jacks.

In 2012 Aidan began a Bachelor of Music degree at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (studying with Robert Gladstones). In 2014 he moved to Brisbane, where he continued his degree, and in 2017 he joined the Australian National Academy of Music program in Melbourne.

Aidan has played with a number of Australian orchestras, including the West Australian, Queensland and Melbourne symphony orchestras and the Camerata of St Johns Chamber Orchestra. A long-term member of the Australian Youth Orchestra, in 2016 he toured with the orchestra to Europe and China, performing in some of the world's most renowned concert venues.

2018 is Jenna Smith’s second year as a Trumpet Fellow in the SSO Fellowship program. Jenna completed her Bachelor of Music performance degree with first class honours in 2016, studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Andrew Evans. While a student, she received the Ted and Susan Meller Memorial Scholarship, the James Witheford Foundation Award for Brass, and the Busby Musical Scholarship. She also played in masterclasses for musicians such as Håkan Hardenberger and Markus Wursch.

She has performed with Sydney and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, the Opera Australia Orchestra and the SSO Sinfonia. In 2016, she was also a member of the Australian World Orchestra’s Academy Program and toured to Singapore. She has participated in Australian Youth Orchestra programs since 2012 and performed as the AYO Principal Trumpet in 2017. She has also been a member of the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute.

Adelaide-born Amanda Tillett studied trombone with Howard Parkinson, Head of Brass at the Elder Conservatorium, and completed her Bachelor of Music degree with honours in 2013, receiving the Elder Conservatorium Director’s Award for Outstanding Performance Results. The following year Amanda moved to Brisbane for further performance opportunities, including working with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, before going on to study at the Australian National Academy of Music for two years in Melbourne. There she studied with Scott Kinmont (SSO), Jessica Buzzbee and Michael Mulcahy (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), while continuing to work as a freelancer. She was invited to play Guest Principal Trombone with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra on a number of occasions in 2017, and has also appeared with the Tasmanian and Sydney symphony orchestras.

Sami Butler is a percussionist from Adelaide. With both parents musicians in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Sami has always been involved with classical music. After briefly playing the violin, he began percussion lessons when he was ten. At 21, he graduated from the Elder Conservatorium of Music with first class honours, having studied with Amanda Grigg.

Highlights from Sami’s time at the conservatorium included winning the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Snare Drum Award in 2013, performing as a soloist in Elder Hall lunchtime recitals and receiving the EMR Travel Scholarship, which allowed him to travel to America to study with renowned percussionists Greg Zuber, Tim Genis and Raynor Carroll. Sami also began playing with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and he is now a regular guest musician with the orchestra. Sami returns to the SSO Fellowship for a second year in 2018.

Tobias Aan grew up in Canberra, studying violin with John Gould and Barbara Gilby. In 2013, he moved to Sydney to study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, recently graduating with first class honours. During this time, he studied with Ole Bohn, also his principal mentor.

Tobias has performed regularly with the Australian Youth Orchestra and Canberra Symphony Orchestra. As a concertmaster he has led a variety of ensembles, including the Sydney Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra and the North Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Recent chamber music highlights include performing with the Marrickville Quartet in the Estivo Summer Festival in Verona, Italy. And in the past year he has also performed chamber music in Norway, Brazil and Costa Rica.

Rollin Zhao is a graduate of the University of Queensland, completing a Bachelor of Music degree with first class honours in 2016. During his tertiary years, he studied with Adam Chalabi, Robin Wilson and Spiros Rantos, and from 2014 to 2015 he studied at the Australian National Academy of Music. As a soloist, Rollin performed alongside other young musicians at the inaugural Lucas Parklands Young Musicians Festival in 2014. That year he was also a finalist in the Kendall National Violin Competition and received the Bach Prize and Audience Choice Award.

Since returning to Brisbane in 2016, Rollin has been active as a freelance musician and is a founding member of the Recreate Project, a group dedicated to reimagining classical works for the purposes of relieving anxiety and stress through music. Throughout 2017, he toured regional Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia as an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra Collective.

Sydney-born Justin Julian found his passion for the viola at 13 years old. Just two years after switching from the violin, he played principal viola in the Alexander Orchestra at the Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camp, and by the age of 17 he was working as a freelance orchestral musician. He now performs as a violist with the Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra symphony orchestras, and the Opera Australia Orchestra in Sydney. In 2017 he was also an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Justin currently studies viola with Roger Benedict on a full scholarship at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. An enthusiastic chamber musician, he is also a member of the Pietra Quartet, which performed at the Estivo Chamber Music Festival in Verona, Italy, and won the Westheimer String Quartet Fellowship in 2017. Justin plays a viola made by Arthur Edward Smith (Sydney, 1951).

Daniel began playing cello at the age of three and has been performing in various ensembles since before he can remember. He studied with Georg Pedersen and Patrick Murphy at the Sydney Conservatorium, where he won the Corinne d’Haag Mayer Scholarship, before continuing his study with Claudio Bohórquez in Germany.

Daniel is a founding member of Spark Piano Trio, and has performed in the Pini, Hazelwood & Friends chamber music concert series for 18 years. He has played in various orchestras in Australia and in Europe, including the Australian Youth Orchestra, SSO Sinfonia, Junge Stuttgarter Oper, Opera Australia Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, Arcarta Kammerorchester and Erdinger Kammerorchester. Daniel has also played in masterclasses in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland with such teachers as Wolfgang Boettcher, David Geringas, Umberto Clerici, Conradin Brotbek and Miklós Pérenyi, and has performed in music festivals in Australia, Germany, and Italy.

Alanna Jones has joined the SSO Fellowship for a second year. She was born in Midlothian, Illinois, but grew up in far north New Zealand. After studying piano, and taking up the harp as a teenager, she began formal studies on the double bass when she was 18 years old. Her principal teachers include Scott Pingel at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she completed her undergraduate degree, and Timothy Pitts at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, where she completed her postgraduate degree.

In 2013 Alanna was the Auckland Philharmonia double bass fellow and in 2016 was a contract player for the orchestra. She was a Tanglewood Music Center Fellow in 2014 and 2015, and in 2017 held a contract with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Alanna works regularly with professional and regional orchestras in Australia and New Zealand, while also teaching double bass at a few schools in Sydney.