AYO Symphonists

Miriam began oboe lessons at eight years old, studying with Celia Craig, Mark Bruwel, Nicola Bell, and Shefali Pryor. While completing her performance degree at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Miriam attended a semester exchange at the Royal Danish Academy of Music under the tutelage of Professor Max Artved. Miriam is the 2024 Oboe Fellow with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and is now on contract with SSO as tutti oboe. She has played as Guest Principal Oboe and tutti oboe with the Tasmania Symphony Orchestra, as well as casual programs with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Miriam is also passionate about chamber music. She attended the Australian Festival of Chamber Music Winter Masterclass with Wollemi Quintet in 2022 and co-founded the Wollemi Chamber Society in 2023, hosting and performing in regular concerts. Miriam has participated in Australian Youth Orchestra’s programs since 2015, when she attended her first Young Symphonists Program in Toowoomba, Queensland.

Photographer: Lisa Maree Williams

The Principal Oboe Chair is generously supported by Penelope Seidler AM. 

Noah is a dynamic young musician from Bendigo, Victoria, on Dja Dja Wurrung country. He has performed side-by-side with most of Australia’s professional orchestras and as an artist at the Bendigo Chamber Music Festival and Port Fairy Spring Music Festival. As a soloist, he has performed with the Percy Grainger Youth Orchestra and twice with the Bendigo Symphony Orchestra. Having completed three years of study under Howard Penny at the Australian National Academy of Music, he is looking forward to taking up the position of Fellow with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2025. Noah started his journey with the AYO in 2018 at Young Symphonists and continued on to National Music Camp, Seasons, Chamber Players, and all of AYO’s programs throughout the years. Music for Noah is all about connection, and he is thrilled to have the opportunity to do so again with the AYO in 2025.

The Associate Principal Cello Chair is generously supported by Carolyn Fletcher AM.

Samuel de Kroon is an 18-year-old flautist from Sydney, Australia, who just finished high school. He began learning the flute when he was 9 and achieved his Licentiate and Associate diplomas in flute performance in 2022 and 2023. He has performed extensively with various national and statewide ensembles, including SYO and AYO. Samuel has participated in many competitions, including winning the National Young Artists Competition at the Flute Festival in 2023. 

Samuel has been part of the AYO community since 2022 when he first did the Young Symphonists program in Ballarat. Through that first program, he is still friends with many of the people who participated. This year, Samuel will also participate in the AYO Summer Music Festival in Adelaide. He currently learns from Jocelyn Fazzone but has also participated in masterclasses with flautists like Joshua Batty and Michael Cox. 

When not performing, Samuel enjoys teaching flute, violin, and viola, sharing his love of music with younger students. He is excited to contribute to AYO once again and connect with other musicians in the flagship orchestra. 

The Associate Principal Flute Chair is generously supported by Helen Gauchat & the late Daniel Gauchat AM. 

Robert Smith is a graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, having studied under renowned Australian violinist Michele Walsh. During his studies, Robert received both musical and academic awards, including the Richard Pollett Memorial Award, the Ronald Clifford Davis Prize, the Vada Jefferies Bach Prize, the Basil Jones Sonata Prize and the Griffith Future Fund Scholarship. An avid orchestral musician, he has participated in the Australian Youth Orchestra as Concertmaster and Associate Concertmaster in various programs since 2019. After graduating, Robert won a first violin position with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra before accepting a first violin contract with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Robert has also enjoyed performing with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Southern Cross Soloists, Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, Omega Ensemble and Ensemble Q.

The Concertmaster Chair is generously supported by Ian & Cass George. 

Robert Smith was the 2021 recipient of the Richard Pollett Memorial Award. 

Recently appointed Associate Concertmaster of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Glenn Christensen is in demand as a soloist, chamber musician and guest principal musician in Australia and internationally. From 2020 until 2025 he held the position of Deputy Concertmaster and Principal 2^nd Violin with Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, was a full-time member of the Australian Chamber Orchestra from 2014 to 2020, and Principal First Violin in the Queensland Symphony Orchestra from 2012 to 2014. He has regularly appeared as Concertmaster and/or director with Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Le Cercle de l’Harmonie, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, as well as Principal 2nd Violin with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. 

Born and raised in the regional Queensland town of Mackay, Glenn received his early music education through the Suzuki Method with local teacher Diane Powell. He studied with Associate Professor Michele Walsh at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University,  graduating in 2011 with a Bachelor of Music, First Class Honours. He was also the first person ever to be awarded the three highest prizes – the Conservatorium Medal, the Music Medal and the University Medal. During his studies, Glenn was the Concertmaster of the Australian Youth Orchestra in 2012 and 2013 and an Australian Chamber Orchestra Emerging Artist in 2012.

As a soloist, Glenn has performed with Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra on multiple occasions. He has had performance broadcast live on ABC Classic FM, was a finalist in the 2014 ABC Young Performer Awards, and in 2009 won every category in the prestigious Kendall National Violin Competition. Glenn is also the violinist in the Lyrebird Trio, which won both the audience choice prize and the Piano Trio prize in the 2013 Asia Pacific Chamber Music Competition.

Glenn has appeared at festivals and masterclasses around Australia and internationally, such as the Musica Viva Festival, Coriole Music Festival, Music by the Springs, Bangalow Festival, Port Fairy Spring Music Festival, Tyalgum Festival and the International Musician’s Seminar, Prussia Cove. In 2018, Glenn started a successful annual festival in his hometown – the Mackay Chamber Music Festival.