Toby Thatcher, Alumnus
Since playing oboe with AYO, Toby Thatcher has trained at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. This year, the 26-year-old musician won the inaugural Neeme Järvi Prize at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival & Academy and was awarded 3rd prize in the prestigious Georg Solti International Conducting Competition in Frankfurt. In April, Thatcher was appointed the Assistant Conductor of the SSO, where he is working with David Robertson. He continues to work with Ensemble Eroica, a leading training orchestra in the UK which he founded.
Connor D’Netto, 2015 Participant
Connor, who took part in our composition program earlier this year, has been named the winner of the Australian New Works Award for 2015, proving that he’s one to watch! This prestigious competition is held by Chamber Music Australia in partnership with ABC Classic FM, Musica viva, Monash University and Melbourne Recital Centre. His Winning composition String Quartet No.2 in E Minor was named the set piece for the 7th International Chamber Music Competition.
Louisa Trewartha, Alumna
Louisa is a talented trumpet player who has participated in a plethora of AYO programs since 2010 and been a dedicated tutor to our Young Symphonists in 2015. Louisa has been named the Garry Schyman Scholarship Recipient for 2015/2016, which will support her MA in Scoring for Film and Visual Media at the Pulse College in Ireland. Congratulations Louisa!
Karen Alexander OAM, Alumna
Alumna Karen Alexander was an oboist in AYO in 1966 and is the daughter of Ruth Alexander, one of the founders of AYO. This year, she received an Order of Australia Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to the community and to the environment. She has worked with a number of environmental organisations including the Australian Conservation Foundation, the United Nations Environment Program, and the Victorian National Parks Association. She was one of the founders of the Wilderness Society in Victoria and served as the president of Bush Heritage Australia.
