The Artists

Diana Doherty was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1966 and studied oboe in Melbourne (Vic) with Stephen Robinson and in Zürich (CH) with Thomas Indermühle.

Awards include 1st prize Prague Spring competition in 1991 and joint winner of Young Concert Artists International auditions in New York in 1995. Career highlights include collaborating on and premiering new concertos for oboe by Australian composers such as Ross Edwards, Nigel Westlake, Graham Koehne and Joe Chindamo, as well as performing some of these works internationally.

Recordings include concertos by Mozart, Haydn, Martinu and Zimmerman ( Pan Classics), Romantic concertos ( ABC Classics), Bach concertos ( ABC) “Blues for DD” ( ABC) “Souvenirs” (ABC), Edwards and Westlake concertos ( ABC) and Koehne concerto (Naxos).

Diana has been principal oboist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra since 1997 and is married to Swiss oboist Alexandre Oguey, principal cor anglais with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Alexandra Osborne enjoys an exciting and versatile career as a solo artist, chamber and orchestral musician, and educator. She was appointed to The National Symphony Orchestra, Washington DC, by Christoph Eschenbach as the youngest violinist in 2009, and spent thirteen seasons with the NSO, including as Assistant Concertmaster.

Ms. Osborne is the newly appointed Associate Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Recent highlights include Guest Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Opera Australia, tours with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Ensemble Offspring, Australian World Orchestra, Australian Piano Quartet, and the Australian String Quartet, Guest Artistic Director/Concertmaster of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, the 2023 Bendigo, Blackheath, Bangalow and Coriole Music Festivals, Guest Principal work with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, curating classical music events at top Australian restaurant Bennelong, a multisensory recording project and residency at UKARIA, touring with Kathy Selby and Friends, performing “The Last Violin” soundtrack for the Harry Vatiliotis documentary including an appearance at the 2023 Bangalow Film Festival, founding board member/violinist of Jackson Hole Chamber Music, her debut album of world premiere Nico Muhly and Philip Glass works on ABC Classic, a concert on the “King Louis XIV” Amati at the Smithsonian American History Museum, mentoring at the Hawaii Youth Symphony Summer Festival, and concerts across European Festivals and the BBC Proms.

Ms. Osborne is a top laureate of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition and Symphony Australia Young Performers Award, and a gold medalist of the Gisborne International Music Competition.

A graduate of The Curtis Institute of Music and The Juilliard School, and after 20 years in the USA, Ms. Osborne is delighted to be back in Australia performing, educating and mentoring.

Born in Tasmania, Thibaud is a French-Australian violinist who found his passion after he chose a violin lesson over a BMX for his 5th birthday. After studying for several years in Tasmania under Peter Tanfield he went on to the Australian National Academy of Music to further develop with Paul Wright and Bill Hennessy.

During this time, Thibaud developed his passion for chamber music, studying and performing with members of the Brodsky Quartet, Nicolas Altstaedt, Alban Gerhardt and Anthony Marwood. With his fellow ensemble members he won the ANAM chamber music competition in 2011. Thibaud then became an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellowship program in 2015.

Thibaud’s relationship with the Australian Chamber Orchestra developed into a part-time role from 2016. Whilst leading the Flinders Quartet based in Melbourne from 2018-2023, Thibaud also undertook numerous national chamber music festivals and tours including Musica Viva 2023. Thibaud currently leads the Sydney Art Quartet.

Justin Williams holds the position of Assistant Principal Viola with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and is the founding violist of the Tinalley String Quartet (TSQ). Justin has performed as Principal Viola with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian World Orchestra, Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (AOBO), Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and Australia ProArte.

As a member of Tinalley String Quartet, Justin shared in the experience of winning the 2005 Australian Chamber Music Competition and the 9th Banff International String Quartet Competition. With TSQ he has toured extensively throughout Australia, Europe and North America and has released several recordings with Move Records, Decca Australia and ABC Classic.

As a composer, Justin released his ‘Movement for String Quartet’ in 2020, which has since been performed throughout Australia and in Italy by the Australian String Quartet. In 2022, Justin was the recipient of a Sydney International Piano Competition Composing the Future juror’s prize for his ‘Three Intermezzi’ for solo piano, premiered by Daniel de Borah. In 2023, his set of songs ‘Three Pieces for String Quartet and Voice: Love – Despair – Hope’, was premiered at the Blackheath Chamber Music Festival, and his First Symphony, jointly commissioned by QSO and SSO, was premiered by QSO under the direction of Maestro Umberto Clerici as part of the Brisbane Festival.

Simon Cobcroft is the Artistic Director of the Coriole Music Festival, and for almost 10 years has served as Principal Cello with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. He is a member of the critically acclaimed Lyrebird Trio, familiar to audiences around Australia and further afield, since winning the 2013 Asia Pacific Chamber Music Competition. Simon studied at the Queensland Conservatorium and the Australian National Academy of Music. Since graduating, he has held principal positions with the Queensland Symphony and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras, and has performed with London's Philharmonia Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony, Denmark’s Esbjerg Ensemble, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and as principal with the Tasmanian and Singapore Symphony Orchestras.

Recent highlights include performances as guest principal cello with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Australian String Quartet, Tinalley Quartet and with Pinchas Zukerman and friends. He has appeared as principal and soloist at the Aldeburgh, Pacific and Salzburg Music Festivals. Simon has performed the cello concertos by Haydn, Elgar, Saint-Saëns and Bruch with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, winning the 2016 Adelaide Critics’ Circle Award for his performance of the Elgar Concerto. In previous years he appeared as soloist with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Sydney’s Metropolitan Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Victoria. Simon studied with Matthew Farrell, Janis Laurs, Alexander Baillie, David Strange and Michael Goldschlager. He plays on a beautiful English cello made in 1840 by Thomas Kennedy. In his spare time, he loves to cook.

David Campbell joined the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2006. He has worked as guest principal of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and as a casual with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and Sydney Children’s Choir.

He has played with the Seraphim Trio including their recording of the “Trout” quintet in 2012. He has played at Ukaria and at chamber music festivals in Kangaroo Valley, Burrawang and the Mornington Peninsula. He was also a founding member of the Omega ensemble in 2006.

He has tutored at the Australian Chamber Orchestra Academy, Australian Youth Orchestras Young Symphonists program, Riverina Summer School for Strings and at Sydney Youth Orchestra.

As a student, David Campbell was a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra, Australian National Academy of Music and National Music Camps. He completed his undergraduate degree at Rice University in Houston, Texas. During his time in the US he studied with Paul Ellison at the Shepherd School of Music. He also spent two summers as a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Centre, where he studied and played with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In 2008 he played in the string final of the ABC Young Performers Awards where he played with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. In 2005 he was the Sydney Symphony’s double bass fellow.

Pianist Benjamin Kopp has performed as soloist with many major Australian orchestras, including the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and WASO. In 2007 he was the winner of the keyboard section of the Symphony Australia Young Performer's Awards. He has been a member of Ensemble Offspring since 2019. Benjamin co-founded the Streeton Trio and was a member from 2009-2021 during which time he toured extensively with Musica VIva and across the globe. Based in Europe for many years, Benjamin has performed with the Lemanic Modern Ensemble, Ensemble Contrechamps and the European Chamber Music Academy.