Kyla Matsuura-Miller - violin
Since graduating from the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in 2018, violinist Kyla Matsuura-Miller has more than established her place at the table in the Australian cultural scene. In 2021 Kyla was awarded the prestigious Freedman Classical Fellowship. She has won numerous prizes and scholarships including the Gwen Nisbet Prize for most outstanding outgoing student at ANAM (2018), the Richard Pollett Memorial prize (2017), Grand Prize at MRC Great Romantics (2017) and was a prize winner at the Kendall National Violin Competition and Australian Youth and Classical Music Competition. Kyla was an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in 2017 and is currently enjoying working with Inventi Ensemble and Duo Piaggio with her long time collaborator pianist Adam McMillan. 2021 has also seen her media debut as a contestant on the iconic music quiz show, ABC’s Spicks and Specks as well as guest spots on ABC Classic FM. Kyla currently plays on a fine violin made by Giovanni Pistucci, circa 1910-1920 which has been generously loaned by a syndicate of music lovers.
Claire Edwardes - Percussion
From the set of Play School to the mainstage at the Sydney Opera House, Claire Edwardes is ‘the sorceress of percussion’ (City News, Canberra). The only Australian to win the 'APRA Art Music Award for Excellence by an Individual' three times, Claire leaps between her role as Artistic Director of Ensemble Offspring and concerto performances with all of the Australian and New Zealand orchestras plus numerous European orchestras. Add her genre-spanning solo concerts, teaching at the Sydney Conservatorium, a broad spectrum of collaborations, premiering hundreds of new works by composers including Harrison Birtwistle and Elena Kats-Chernin, to passionately advocating for gender equity in music and you begin to appreciate her astonishing energy. Perhaps her most significant contribution, beyond her endless quest for excellence in performance, is in breaking down the barriers between art music and audiences, through her enthusiasm for bringing new music to unexpected places - including bowling clubs and old power stations.