AYO Youth Council

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.

Maddie Hammond is a Perth-based composer who is completing her Master of Teaching (Secondary Education) in Music and English. Madeleine has an Honours degree in Composition at the Conservatorium of Music, from the University of Western Australia and is currently completing her Master of Teaching (Secondary Education) majoring in Music and minoring in English. Maddie has attended the Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camp for Composition, Words About Music (Media & Communications), and Orchestral Management from 2023-2025. Maddie was an inaugural member of the AYOYC. Maddie has composed for several ensembles such as AYO’s National Musical Camp, the Australian Women’s Wind Band Prize, UWA Conservatorium of Music’s Wind Orchestra, and Voyces’ Vanguard Consort. Maddie is also a keen trumpeter playing regularly with WA Brass, the West Australian Wind Symphony, and West Coast Philharmonic Orchestra.

Hi everyone! I’m Andy and I’m a clarinettist from Brisbane. This year will be my third year with AYO, and I’m looking forward to being a part of their programs for many more years to come, and promoting positive change within the team!

I currently study clarinet at the University of Queensland, under Paul Dean. But when you don’t find me honking wrong notes, I also study Bachelor of Mathematics degree alongside my Bachelor of Music – both very nerdy degrees but hey, I am a nerdy human. I like to think a lot, and I think these two study paths allows me to think in two completely different ways and encourages me to change my approach to thinking about ideas, expressions and emotions.

If you don’t see me doing either of those, then I like to sleep (primarily), game, chat, and cook in my spare time. Another side hobby of mine is debating (as you can tell, I yap a little).

Angus Pace is a bass trombonist studying at the Australian National Academy of Music under the tutelage of Colin Prichard. Their first year at ANAM has been richly packed with orchestral, chamber and solo experiences.

Through ANAM’s side-by-side programs Angus was lucky enough to perform Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder with SSO and Mahler 8 with WASO. Personal highlights of their time in the ANAM orchestra have been performing Strauss’ Capriccio with Simone Young in 2023 and Berlioz’s Harold in Italy with Brett Dean and Stef Ferrands in 2024. They have spent significant time in chamber ensembles, especially in the ANAM Trombone Quartet, which advanced to the finals of the LITTIN International Trombone Quartet competition in Frankfurt. Angus was the first trombonist to advance to the final round of the ANAM Concerto Competition. This gave them the opportunity to perform Daniel Schnyder’s ‘SubZERO, Concerto for Bass Trombone and Orchestra’ with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in November 2024, the first time it has been performed by a major Australian orchestra.

Before studying at ANAM they completed a Bachelor of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music studying with Ben Anderson. A highlight of their time there was the MCM Orchestra tour to Malaysia and Singapore in 2023.

Photography: Pia Johnson

Bailey Ireland studied with Jane Kircher-Lindner at the University of Western Australia, graduating with a Bachelor of Philosophy with Honours in 2024, with a second major in mathematics. He has performed on bassoon and contrabassoon with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and Australian Youth Orchestra, as well as having been principal of the Western Australian Youth Orchestra and Western Australian Wind Symphony. Bailey was awarded the Royal Schools Music Club’s Anniversary Scholarship in 2022 and spent a semester on exchange at the University of York working with Laurence Perkins. Bailey has appeared as a soloist with Allegri Chamber Orchestra and Collegium Strings.

Haneulle Lovell is a passionate violinist and musical collaborator. Born in Adelaide, she moved to Brisbane in 2022 to pursue her musical studies under the tutelage of Michele Walsh. A member of the Australian Youth Orchestra from 2022-2024 and a 2024 Queensland Symphony Orchestra Academist, she has developed a keen interest and love for orchestral playing. An invested chamber musician, Haneulle has explored many exciting collaborations whilst pursuing a Bachelor of Music (Honours) at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, including projects alongside members of the Australian String Quartet, the LA Philharmonic Wind Quintet, and Ensemble Q. She brings her love and commitment for musical togetherness into all aspects of her playing, including during a recent trip with the Orleigh Quartet, representing the Queensland Conservatorium at the “Musical Chairs” Chamber Music Festival in Montreal. A recent winner of the 2024 Basil Jones Sonata Prize and a past soloist in the Queensland Conservatorium Concertos Festival, she values diverse performance opportunities. When not rehearsing or listening to music, Haneulle enjoys bike rides out and about in her neighbourhood, or a spot of cooking.

Twenty-year-old violist Jamie Miles is a third-year student at both the Australian National Academy of Music and the University of Melbourne (BMus), studying with Caroline Henbest. From 2022-2023, he was the principal violist of the flagship Australian Youth Orchestra, including for their National Tour in 2022, and Jamie has been the principal viola of the University of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since his first year. In 2023, Jamie was the winner of the Melbourne Recital Centre (MRC) Bach Competition and was the only Australian competitor in the prestigious German Broadcasting Association (ARD) International Viola Competition in Munich. In 2024, he was a finalist in the MRC Great Romantics Competition, and in 2022, he claimed second prize in the 3MBS Victorian Young Performer of the Year Awards. Jamie has performed with the Sydney Symphony, Melbourne Symphony and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras as part of ANAM’s side-by-side program. 

As a keen composer, he has won several local competitions, including the Australian Guild of Music’s ‘UNLOCK’D’ contest, winning the Solo Instrument category. Jamie’s Suite for Solo Viola has recently been included in the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) syllabus for the ‘Certificate of Performance’ level.

Jamie plays an 1899 Béla Szepessy viola, generously on loan from Thomas Chawner.

Jude is a 22-year-old double bassist from Melbourne. He is currently completing an Honours degree in double bass performance at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music under former MSO principal bass Steve Reeves.

Jude began playing double bass at age 16 after being offered a scholarship with MYO who provided instruments, lessons and ensemble participation. It was through this and other support that enabled him to successfully audition for the MCM commencing in 2020.

In 2023 Jude completed a year abroad at the University of Birmingham studying with CBSO associate principal bass Julian Atkinson and regularly playing for the Birmingham Conservatoire Orchestra and the CBSO Youth Orchestra. During that year Jude took lessons and masterclasses with players such as Tom Martin, Bozo Paradzik, Leon Bosch, and Lorraine Campet. He was also a guest artist for various ensembles in the UK and participated in the 2023 Dutch Double Bass Festival in Rotterdam (including premiering a new work in an ensemble of 60 double basses).

In 2024, after his experience in the UK, Jude was offered places and scholarships at Trinity College under Leon Bosch and RNCM under Jiri Hudec.

Jude’s participation in the AYO includes attendance at three NMC’s, once as a sound production participant and twice on bass.

Recipient of the prestigious New Colombo Plan Scholarship and ThinkSwiss Scholarship, violinist Julia Hill has established herself internationally as a multi-faceted musician. She graduated from Griffith University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Music (Honours) and was awarded the 2020 Queensland Conservatorium Medal, given to one student each year for outstanding involvement during tertiary studies.

With a strong passion for interdisciplinary performance, Julia has collaborated with composers, artists and directors to create unique artistic experiences. Whilst living in Japan under the support of the New Colombo Plan Scholarship, she collaborated with Japanese visual artist Yuki Horie, presenting a performance of improvised art and music designed to promote the audience’s wellbeing through mindfulness. Additionally, the ThinkSwiss Scholarship took her to Geneva where her collaboration with five emerging composers resulted in a multi-disciplinary performance featuring new music accompanying a film about the effects of climate change. Most recently, as a featured artist at Brisbane Music Festival, Julia combined theatre, composition and solo violin music to create a solo show, Renaissance, based on the theme of recovery from mental health difficulties.

Julia holds casual violin positions with the Adelaide, Melbourne and Queensland Symphony Orchestras and performs regularly with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra. She is looking forward to touring with the AYO to Europe for the first time!

Photographer: Jack Mounsey

Layla is an enthusiastic violist based in Melbourne studying with Merewyn Bramble. She graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School in 2021 and is currently undertaking a double degree in music and science at Monash University where she was the 2023 recipient of the Anna Chmiel string prize.

With a particular love for chamber and early music, Layla plays with the Elaria string quartet, explores historically informed practice on the viola da gamba, and cross-disciplinary projects with the Monash Art Ensemble.

Layla has been the principal violist of the Monash Academy Orchestra since 2023 and has worked on projects with the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic and the Euphoria of Sound Orchestra. She has had the joy of attending Australian Youth Orchestra National Music Camps in 2024 and 2025, and of playing in masterclasses for artists such as Florian Willeitner and Pekka Kuusisto.

Away from the viola, Layla can be found studying clouds or casting on yet another knitting project.

Marcus Tyler is a cellist from Sydney who commenced learning the cello at the age of three through the Suzuki method. He achieved his AMusA with Distinction in 2023. 

Marcus is currently part of the Rising Stars Program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he has held an Arthur Cunningham Scholarship for several years. He has always enjoyed making music, particularly in orchestral settings. He has been a member of the Sydney Youth Orchestra since 2023 and has participated in several Australian Youth Orchestra programs since 2022. Marcus also enjoys chamber music and participates in several groups. In 2024, he was a finalist in Musica Viva’s Strike A Chord competition as a member of the Astra Octet.  

Marcus served as a member of the inaugural AYO Youth Council in 2024 and looks forward to continuing in 2025 to contribute to initiatives that support and empower young orchestral musicians across Australia. 

Paul Nicolaou is an award-winning harpist and composer based in Sydney, Australia. Praised as “brilliant” (classikON), he has quickly gained international recognition as a creative and virtuosic young artist, receiving numerous accolades including First Prize in the 2023 National Youth Music Arranging Competition, the 2024 ABC Classic Composer Commissioning Fund, 2021 Monash University Emerging Composer Prize and Most Outstanding Performer Award at the 2022 Sydney Harp Eisteddfod. 

Currently an Honours student at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Paul studies under the tutelage of internationally celebrated harpist Alice Giles AM. He has quickly established himself as an accomplished and sought-after performer, appearing as Guest Principal Harp with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Auckland Philharmonia, as well as Omega Ensemble, Ensemble Apex and more. He is also a freelance harpist with Opera Australia and has previously participated in nine Australian Youth Orchestra performance programs, eight of which as a principal musician.

Paul has participated in several notable composition programs including the Australian Youth Orchestra’s 2022 Composition Program and the 2023 Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra Composer Workshop. He is a finalist in the 2025 APRA Professional Development Awards under the Screen Composition category and received the Highly Commended Award in Willoughby Symphony Orchestra’s 2023 Young Composer Competition.

Paul is also an experienced pianist, violinist, an accredited music arranger with the Music Arrangers’ Guild of Australia and Australian Music Centre Associate Artist.

QiQi is a Naarm/Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, and cultural producer whose work bridges Chinese musical traditions with contemporary forms. Classically trained in both double bass and guzheng, QiQi creates genre-fluid compositions that blend cinematic, improvised, and cross-cultural elements.

QiQi has performed with the Australian Youth Orchestra since 2023, acted as Head of Music for Hong De Lion & Dragon Dance Association for 4 years, and their solo recordings feature in a permanent installation at the Golden Dragon Museum. In 2024, QiQi was nominated for Best New Work at Melbourne Fringe for Elysian Blues, a collaborative performance blending guzheng with jazz piano. Since debuting their solo career in 2019, QiQi has appeared at venues such as the NGV, Crown Palladium, and Melbourne Museum, and is regularly engaged to create culturally reflective performances for community and festival stages.

A passionate advocate for inclusive arts practices, QiQi is currently developing Echoes of the Earth—an immersive music and visual project exploring ecological transformation through sound and storytelling. Supported by Creative Victoria, they are also composing their debut album, set for release in 2025/26.

Through performance, education, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, QiQi is committed to empowering diverse voices in Australia’s creative landscape and creating space for new possibilities.

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.

Sophia Mackson is a Queensland-based violist, composer, advocate and educator. She
completed her Honours year of her Bachelor of Music in 2023 at the University of
Queensland, under the tutelage of the Professor Patricia Pollett.

As a violist, Sophia actively plays and composes for the Sketch Ensemble based at UQ. She
is involved with UQ’s Pulse Chamber Orchestra and the University of Queensland
Symphony Orchestra. Sophia has also been a part of Australian Youth Orchestra’s National
Music Camp, Opera Queensland’s Festival of Outback Opera, Nonsemble, and other
ensembles. Through her composing, Sophia has received mentorship through Ensemble
Offspring’s Hatched Home Academy in 2020, and taken part of the Women Composers
Development Programme with Coro Innominata. She has also worked with ensembles such
as Melbourne based ensemble Ellipses Trio, and violist Helena Burns.

Sophia has been interviewed by ABC Classic, ABC New England Northwest, and ABC
Brisbane for her advocacy in classical music, particularly around being a musician and
having ADHD. Her podcast “On-the-spot” features people who work in the arts that
experience neurodiversity and have disabilities. Sophia hopes to use her experiences to
inspire change through her writing and creative works, as well as to communicate music to
audiences around the country. Sophia is one of the inaugural AYO Media and Communications (MAC) fellows.

As the recipient of the 2024 of the Alan Lane Award for Composition, William Pipe is well on their way to turning their long fought-for dreams into a reality. With two national premieres in January 2025 across Australia, their dramatic works reflect an innate emotional intelligence. Their focus on large-scale chamber and symphonic works demonstrate intricate and complex musical ideas that echo in the halls of previous eras’ great composers.

Under the guidance of the 1994 & 2000 Albert H Maggs Composition Award recipient Gerard Brophy, and Art Music Award recipient & composer Jessica Wells, Will’s music demonstrates a very detail-oriented compositional style whilst maintaining an emotional integrity that is all so important to the composer.

As their portfolio continues to grow, they look to make their debut into the industry as a symbol of Australia’s growing classical and contemporary music scene. Beyond music, William is an avid weather observer, travelling near and far to document destructive storms across the eastern states.