Antipodes Quartet as part of the Fellowship Ensemble Programme

Born in Sydney and now based in Aotearoa, violist Tal Amoore is a dynamic chamber musician with a growing presence. He was recently awarded a Royal Over-Seas League Pettman Scholarship, supporting his professional development in the UK. Tal has been featured as an Emerging Artist at the At the World’s Edge Festival (2022, 2024) and will return as a Pettman Scholar in 2025. He was also selected as a Young Artist at the 2025 Whakatipu Music Festival. 

A committed chamber musician, Tal co-founded the Eden Quartet in 2019, performing concerts across New Zealand, and collaborating with Steinway Artist Jason Bae, with whom he later toured with in Auckland and Seoul, Korea as part of the Afflatus Ensemble.

Equally active as an orchestral musician, Tal has performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Wellington, New Zealand Opera, Royal New Zealand Ballet, and as Guest Principal Violist with various regional orchestras across Aotearoa.

Tal is currently completing his Bachelor of Music in Performance at Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music, studying with Peter Clark and Gillian Ansell.

Māori/Japanese violinist, Mana Waiariki (Te Whānau-ā-Apanui) completed her Bachelor of Music with Honours, specialising in Chamber Music at Te Kōki New Zealand School of Music with Helene Pohl for her undergraduate degree (2023) and with Peter Clark for her postgraduate studies (2025). Mana was supported by the Deane Endowment Trust throughout her entire tertiary level studies, and it has funded special projects that have allowed her to attend international music events.

Mana has played with the New Zealand String Quartet as a guest artist on multiple occasions. Mana was on trial with Orchestra Wellington in 2024 and has sat as guest concertmaster for one of their concerts. Mana has played as the guest concertmaster and soloist for the Marlborough Civic Orchestra, guest soloist for the Nelson Symphony Orchestra, and has performed in the Western Sydney Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Mana plays a violin on loan to her through the Hill Family Foundation’s Instrument Bank by donor, Karla Mitchell.

Nelson born cellist Lavinnia Rae has resided in London for six years, following her undergraduate studies in New Zealand. In London she completed a Master of Performance with Distinction at the Royal College of Music with Richard Lester. As a Leverhulme Arts Scholar she completed a MPerf with Distinction in Orchestral Artistry in association with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, under the tutelage of LSO principal cellist Rebecca Gilliver. 

Lavinnia is currently on trial for tutti cello with the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast and trialled with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in 2023. In the UK she regularly freelances with the LSO, BSO, and Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra. Lavinnia has been on contract with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and this past year appeared as acting principal cello of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. 

Her chamber music highlights include featuring as a guest artist with the New Zealand String Quartet, performing at the Hellensmusic Festival alongside Tom Poster, Maya Iwabuchi and Lawrence Power, and attending the three-week intensive String Quartet Seminar mentored by the Takács Quartet at the Music Academy of the West. 

New Colombo Plan scholar and winner of the Junior Category of the Queensland International Chamber Music Competition, Eden Annesley is a violinist based in Wellington. She obtained her Bachelor of Music with First-Class Honours at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University with Associate Professor Michele Walsh, graduating with the University Medal.

Eden has been a guest artist with the New Zealand String Quartet, performed alongside musicians of the Australian World Orchestra, Ensemble Q, and the Australian Youth Orchestra. In 2025, she played with the NZSQ Fellowship Ensemble & Antipodes Quartet, in a national tour sponsored by CMNZ. 

Eden spent a year in Japan sponsored by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade investigating the violin music of Tōru Takemitsu and interning with traditional Japanese shakuhachi master Akikazu Nakamura. This led her to co-founding Duo Aki, a violin-saxophone contemporary-classical ensemble. In 2025 they were selected to represent their country at the Australia Pavilion Osaka World Expo. 

Eden is passionate about cultural leadership, using music and language to facilitate dialogue and connection between communities, forged during her time living in Japan.