The 2026 NZSO National Youth Orchestra
Strings are listed in alphabetical order.
First Violin
Lucas de Groot-Tsuji
Supported by Peter and Kay Squires
Tristan Dunlop
Sponsored by Virginia Breen
Bertil Feng
Catherine Harrison
Joshua Hooker
Justine Hua
Alun James
Vivienne Lim
Fengyao Liu
Daniel Loy
Estella Ritchie
Sponsored by Bill Moran
Natalija Sekicki
Sponsored by Kim & Ian New
Ambrose Tarrant
Priscilla Teh
Second Violin
Indiana Bell
Michelle Brown
Isaac Chou
Leila Dunlop
Sponsored by Anonymous
Hannah Schulte
Sponsored by Daniel^ & Kylie Wong
Anthony Takeda
Cheryl Teng
Elizabeth Vawter
Edgar Watson
Richard Yeoh
Samuel Yuan
Olivia Zhou
Sponsored by Katherine Teixeira Bender & Eric Bender
Viola
Teresa Cheung
Francesca Fong
Elise Ji
Haydn Li
Sponsored by Glenda West
Milliann Lim
Sponsored by Kim & Ian New
Dalton Ma
Sponsored by Bruce Rae & Magaret Mabbett
Lilian Qiu
Ary Son
Sponsored by Ted & Anne Aspey
Solace Ward
Sponsored by Jeff & Marise McNeil
Abigail Zhao
Cello
Portia Bell
Reilly Blennerhassett
Sponsored by Lesley Ayers
DJ Hopkinson
Sponsored by David Reynolds
Juan Lee
Howard Lu
Sponsored by David Reynolds
Freya McKeich
Sponsored by Anonymous
Elise Tian
Sponsored by Anonymous
Andrew Wang
Double Bass
Nicholas Brownlie
Ariana Knudson-Hollebon
Ava Palmer
James Parker
Evelyn Patterson
Sponsored by Claire McDonald
Emma Tiplady-Scurr
Mila Yin
Woodwind Section
Supported by Heather Simpson
Flute
Althea James, Section Principal
Sponsored by Michael Snowden
Dingding Pei, Associate Principal
Alina Chen, Sub-Principal
Piccolo
Dingding Pei, Principal
Oboe
Junyang (David) Zhu, Section Principal
Sponsored by Stacey Dixon
Alex Wu, Associate Principal
Cor Anglais
George Guo, Principal
Sponsored by Stacey Dixon
Clarinet
Dennis Liu, Section Principal
Joseph Craggs, Associate Principal
Sponsored by Rob Hole & Sue Batley
Bass Clarinet
Reuben Allen, Principal
Bassoon
Tor Chiles, Section Principal
Luke Davenport, Associate Principal
Helena Park, Sub-Principal
Contrabassoon
Joshua Elrom, Principal
Horn
Thomas Ferreira-Montague, Section Principal
Campbell Smith, Associate Principal
Caspar Adams, Sub-Principal
Jessica Drury, Sub-Principal
Sponsored by Pat Hickon & Josie Grace
Riley Wang, Sub-Principal
Trumpet
Zachary Allen, Section Principal
Sponsored by E Prof Les Holborow
Lena Krakowiak, Associate Principal
Sponsored by Ross Steele
Hugo Carter, Sub-Principal
Tomas Metz, Sub-Principal
Ned Shaw, Sub-Principal
Trombone
Nicholas Blitch, Section Principal
Amy Laithwaite, Associate Principal
Bass Trombone
Jack Erskine-Shaw, Principal
Tuba
Kilian Casey, Principal
Sponsored by David Zwartz
Timpani
Hannah Kagawa, Section Principal
Sponsored by John & Elisa Mendzela
Cameron Smillie, Assistant Timpani
Percussion
Sho Kubota, Co-Section Principal
Keina Rollinson, Co-Section Principal
Hannah Kagawa, Sub-Principal
Sponsored by John & Elisa Mendzela
Cameron Smillie, Sub-Principal
Harp
Sherry Zhang, Principal
Yan Tong Lu, Sub-Principal