2022 Featured Young Artists

Drew Gilchrist, clarinet

Drew Gilchrist is a vibrant clarinettist who brings ‘passion and electricity’ to the stage. His endeavours as an avid chamber musician include his appearance as a guest artist with groups such as Ensemble Q and The Southern Cross Soloists alongside ARIA winning guitarist Slava Grigoryan. He has been involved in the Brisbane Festival, the Bellingen Fine Music Festival, The Sunshine Coast Chamber Music Festival, Queensland Music Trails, Coramba Chamber Music Festival and 4MBS Marathon Concerts. He has attended a number of Australian Youth Orchestra programs. In competition he has seen plenty of success, having won the Queensland Clarinet and Saxophone Inc. Competition twice and receiving the 2020 Queensland Conservatorium Ross Peters 4mbs Chamber Music Prize with his group, Ensemble Crucible. He has performed solo at the Sydney Opera House for the ENCORE showcase to a sold-out crowd and played Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto as soloist with the New South Wales Regional Youth Orchestra. Drew is passionate about new music. He has given the world premiere of Paul Dean’s solo clarinet work 4 Moments and the Queensland premiere of his Clarinet Concerto with the Conservatorium Symphony orchestra.

Shana Hoshino, oboe

Brisbane based oboist Shana Hoshino has performed with the Australian Youth Orchestra, Australian Classical and Romantic Orchestra, Ensemble Q Opera at Jimbour and Conservatorium Symphony and Musical/Opera Orchestras. Shana is currently the Principal Oboist of the Queensland Youth Symphony Orchestra, with which she has been a member of since 2019. As a Bachelor of Music candidate at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, she was awarded the Nora Baird Scholarship for most outstanding entrance audition. Shana regularly appears as a principal musician at the Conservatorium under the renowned tutelage of Eve Newsome and Huw Jones. Passionate about chamber music, Shana has been a founding member of the Schilflieder Trio and the Acetaria Wind Quintet, with whom she has participated in masterclasses with the LA Philharmonic Wind Quintet and who were semi-finalists in the Queensland International Chamber Music Competition in 2019. In 2021, Acetaria performed at the inaugural Sunshine Coast Chamber Music Festival. Shana has participated in masterclasses run by such renowned pedagogues as Diana Doherty, Maurice Bourgue and Jeff Crellin and in 2021 was the 1st prize winner of the Australasian Double Reed Society’s National Competition Open Section. In 2022, Shana will be performing with Ensemble Q in their first concert and at UKARIA in Adelaide. She will also be participating in Australian Youth Orchestras’ 2022 programs, including the National Music Camp, Winter and Summer Seasons and Fellowship with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Shana is passionate about music and the power it has to touch and bring people together. 

Amelia Cody-Byfield, bassoon

Amelia Cody-Byfield is a bassoonist who is currently completing a Bachelor of Music in Performance at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University under the tutelage of David Mitchell. Amelia holds a casual position with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and enjoys her work as a freelance orchestral and chamber bassoonist. Over the course of her studies, Amelia has had numerous performance opportunities with the Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra, including playing principal bassoon in Stravinsky’s Firebird in 2021, and Mahler’s 8th Symphony in 2018. She has also played in the Queensland Conservatorium’s Side By Side concert series, including the Beethoven Quintet for Piano and Winds with Paul Dean and Daniel de Borah, and Alban Berg’s Chamber Concerto with Paul Dean, Vernon Hill and Ben Marks. Outside of her studies, Amelia enjoys freelance chamber and orchestral playing in Brisbane and the surrounding areas. She has especially valued her opportunities to play second bassoon with Ensemble Q, including Beethoven’s Wind Sextet for the 2021 4MBS Beethoven Marathon, Opera at Jimbour, and the recording of Dvorák’s Serenade for Wind Instruments for the Melbourne Digital Concert Hall. Amelia has also participated in the Australian Youth Orchestra’s 2021 Autumn Music Camp and looks forward to playing with the AYO in their 2022 programs.

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Alexander Hogan, French horn

Alexander Hogan’s recent performance with Camerata, Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, supporting Queensland Ballets 60th Anniversary Gala is the latest development in his emerging orchestral performance career. Alexander developed a deep passion for music at a young age and has successfully auditioned for
numerous Australian Youth Orchestra programs including National Music Camp and both Summer and Winter seasons in 2021 and 2022. At the end of his third year of study at the Conservatorium in 2021, Alexander performed Mahler’s 5th Symphony under the baton of Johannes Frisch, playing both the Principal and Solo Obligato horn parts.
Currently undertaking his fourth year of undergraduate classical French Horn studies, Alexander is mentored by internationally acclaimed horn teacher Associate Professor Peter Luff, Section Principal Horn of Queensland Symphony Orchestra Malcolm Stewart, and Former Section Principal Horn of Canberra Symphony Orchestra Ysolt Clark. Together, this superior French Horn pedagogy has propelled
Alexander’s career forward.
Alexander’s enthusiasm for music extends into the technical realm of brass instrument repair. He is currently apprenticed with former Principal Tuba of the Opera Australia Orchestra, Ed Diefes, in his expanding business Diefes Brass Repair in Sydney. Working full-time over extended breaks enables Alexander to refine his skills and give him a holistic understanding of Brass performance.​

Robert Smith, violin

Winner of the 2021 Richard Pollett Memorial Award, Robert Smith is currently studying a Bachelor of Music in Performance at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University under the tutelage of renowned Australian violinist, Michele Walsh. In recent years, he has competed in and won major prizes in many competitions, including the Kendall National Violin Competition, the Basil Jones Sonata Prize, the Vada Jefferies Prize, the Ronald Clifford Davis Prize and the Matilda Jane Aplin Prize. Robert is fortunate to have received various scholarships in recent years, including a Griffith Futures Scholarship, the Pat Volek Orchestral Training Scholarship, the Carmel Kain Scholarship and a Griffith Widening Participation Scholarship. As a soloist, he has performed with many orchestras, including the Queensland Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra and the Redlands Sinfonia. Robert is looking forward to performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the Sinfonia of Saint Andrew’s later this year. Since 2019, he has been an active member of the Australian Youth Orchestra, previously participating as concertmaster and principal second violinist in various programs. In December, Robert successfully auditioned for an Upbeat Artist position with Camerata.

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Cindy Masterman, cello 

Cindy is currently undertaking her third year at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, under the tutelage of György Déri. Prior to her return to Australia, Cindy began her bachelor degree as a Sir Edmund Hillary scholar under the guidance of James Tennant at the University of Waikato in Hamilton, New Zealand. In 2021, she was awarded first prize in the Piatti prize competition, and finalist of the Bach prize and Basil Jones sonata prize alongside Kai Hagiwara. Awarded with distinction, Cindy received her LMusA in 2019. As a long-standing member of the Queensland Youth Orchestra’s, Cindy joined in 2014 and performed under John Curro AM MBE’s baton from 2018-2019 in the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Since 2019, Cindy has also attended Australian Youth Orchestra Camps and will perform in the upcoming Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra concert as principal cellist in the Richard Strauss Tod and Verklärung. As a member of the Tarilindy String Quartet, Cindy will be travelling to Canada later this year as the ensemble was nominated to attend the McGill Musical Chairs Chamber Festival in Montreal. Cindy was invited to perform with Ensemble Cherubim late last year and aspires to pursue a diverse career in collaborative music.

Julian Duthoit, viola

Julian was born into a musical family and started playing the violin at the age of 5. During his high school years, he had the fortune to play with the Queensland Youth Orchestra 2, attend a National Music Camp, play with the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute (AISOI) as well as perform in various other projects. At the age of 18 he began his studies with Michele Walsh at the Queensland Conservatorium. During this time, he attended the Winterschool at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, participated in the Australian Youth Orchestra February season and National Music camp in 2019 as well as regularly playing in the Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra. However, in his fourth year at the Conservatorium, he decided to change to viola, and since then has never looked back. On viola he has performed with his main group the  Carina String Quartet, led the viola section in the Conservatorium Opera production of Street Scene as well as played in various other chamber and orchestral projects. Julian is pursuing a career not just in viola, but also as a conductor and is currently looking at study options overseas.
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Chae Eun Oh, violin

Chae Eun Oh is a flourishing violinist who has broadcasted her recordings on the 4mbs Classic Fm. She was a recitalist in the 2018 National Youth Concerto Competition. Under the direction of highly regarded Professor Michele Walsh, Chae Eun is completing her Bachelor of Music in Performance at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University as a classical violinist. She has received Academic Excellence Award for 3 years at the Queensland Conservatorium. She has performed with the Queensland Youth Symphony for many years and travelled to China and Germany for the orchestra’s international tour in 2017. In 2019, she was associate concertmaster for the QYS and QSO Collaboration Performance alongside Alan Smith as concertmaster. She was also part of the QYS Chamber Orchestra Tour to Shanghai for the sister-relationship 30th anniversary in the same year.
The Australian Youth Orchestra has also been a significant part of her music career since 2018. This year, she will be attending AYO’s Winter and Summer Seasons, and the AYO Chamber Players with her piano trio in 2022. She has performed with Ensemble Q for ‘The Merry Wives of Windsor’ and at QMF Opera which was held at Jimbour House. Some of her highlight experiences include masterclasses with acclaimed artists such as Harry Bennetts Associate Concertmaster of the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra, Dale Barltrop member of the Australian String Quartet and Professor Jack
Liebeck from the Royale Academy of Music. Chae Eun was the concertmaster for the
Conservatorium’s Chamber Orchestra with Haydn’s Symphony No.88 in G Major this year. She is hoping to continue her musical studies at Hochschule fr Musick Hanns Eisler in Berlin, Germany next year.