Musicians
Stroma’s core group of performers include some of the most experienced and excellent chamber musicians in New Zealand.
Bridget Douglas
Flute/Alto Flute/Piccolo
Bridget Douglas is the Principal Flute of the NZSO. After completing studies at Victoria University, Bridget went to New York and Chicago for further studies. In the USA, Bridget won several competitions including the Artists International Award, resulting in a debut recital at Carnegie Hall. Bridget is also a member of the harp/flute duo Flight with Carolyn Mills (NZSO Principal Harp) and the contemporary ensemble Stroma. She has released two CDs with pianist Rachel Thomson (Syrinx, French music for flute and piano, and Taurangi, music by New Zealand composers) and a Flight CD with Carolyn Mills.
Patrick Barry
Clarinet
Born in Washington State, Patrick took up his position as Associate Principal Clarinet in 2000. He is a recent graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied with David Neuman and Luis Baez. During his studies, he had the opportunity to perform with members of the San Francisco Symphony and the remaining members of the Grateful Dead in a performance of John Cage’s music circus, Renga with Apartment House 1776. He was also involved with the debut performance of the Lawrence Peck Dance Company, a modern dance troupe committed to collaboration with living composers. Patrick was winner of the 1994 Corbett Concerto Competition and was awarded a fellowship to the Tanglewood Music Centre in 1997. Patrick performed the Mozart Clarinet Concerto at the age of 17 with the Oregon Symphony Orchestra in the United States.
Mark Carter
Trumpet/Associate Conductor
Mark was born in Poole, Dorset, and began playing cornet at the age of seven. He joined the school brass band and was a member of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. At the age of 17 he took his first trumpet lesson and went on to study at The Royal Academy of Music, London, with John Wilbraham. In his last year of study Mark took part in the RAM exchange programme and studied at The Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane. Since his graduation he has played with The Cape Town Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Queensland Philharmonic, Queensland Orchestra and Singapore Symphony orchestra. Mark is sub principal trumpet in the NZSO, as well as a member of New Zealand Brass. Since moving to New Zealand Mark has taken up many new hobbies including refereeing rugby union, fly fishing, scuba diving and mountain biking.
Andrew Jarvis
Tuba
Andrew Jarvis was appointed Principal Tuba of the National Orchestra of South Africa in 1987 and was also conscripted into the Light Horse Regiment Band as part of his military service. He taught at various institutions and regularly performed with the Contemporary Brass Ensemble and the Transvaal Chamber Orchestra. In 1993 Andrew immigrated to Australia where he freelanced with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Philharmonic and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. While in Queensland he was appointed part-time Lecturer in Tuba at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. In 1997 he was a guest soloist at the Brisbane International Brass Festival and in 1999, premiered a work by Paul Dean at the Tubamania International Tuba Conference. In 2000 Andrew was guest soloist for the Queensland Symphonic Winds tour of China. Andrew was appointed Principal Tuba of the NZSO in 2001. In 2004 Andrew premiered Labyrinth as soloist with the NZSO
Leonard Sakofsky
Percussion
Leonard joined the NZSO as Principal Percussion in 2006. Prior to this he had been Principal Percussionist of the Auckland Philharmonia since 1997 and has gained a reputation as an outstanding player both as a soloist and in ensembles. He studied at the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College Division, then the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Principal Percussionist of the Cleveland Orchestra, Richard Weiner and with Principal Timpanist, Paul Yancich. There he received a BMus degree and received the Bruce Koley Award for Excellence in Percussion. At only 17, he was a finalist in the New York Philharmonic Concerto Competition for Young Artists, and appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra in the Kraft Concerto for Four Percussion and Orchestra at age 19. Since coming to New Zealand, he has appeared as a soloist in the 1998 International Chamber Music Festival, and with Manukau Symphony Orchestra, New Plymouth Orchestra, Auckland University Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia and St. Matthew’s Chamber Orchestra. He performed in the 2000 New Zealand Festival playing a concert of music by John Psathas (Psathas Portrait) with Dan Poynton. He was also a member of 175 East Contemporary Ensemble for six years. Lenny performed View from Olympus in the Australian premiere with Michael Houston, Marc Taddei and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in 2005, the Auckland Philharmonia in 2006 and the Vector Wellington Orchestra in 2007.
Anna van der Zee
Violin
Originally from Paeroa, Anna van der Zee has been playing in Stroma Ensemble since 2012. Trained in Wellington, Germany and USA, Anna is a member of the first violin section of the NZSO, and co-founded the Tasman String Quartet. The quartet ventured to Boulder, Colorado for two years to study under the Takacs Quartet. They picked up prizes in chamber music competitions in Florida, Missouri and Melbourne. Alongside her work with the NZSO, Anna runs Karori Classics, a series of monthly chamber music concerts supporting local charities.
Thomas Guldborg
Percussion
Thomas Guldborg received his MMus in Percussion Performance from the Academy of Music in Aalborg. After graduating he went to Boston to study at New England Conservatory of Music, where he received his GradDip in Percussion Performance. While in Boston, Thomas worked extensively with acclaimed avant-garde pianist Stephen Drury. Together they performed Stockhausen’s Kontakte. Thomas was also the first recipient of the John Cage Memorial Award for New Music at New England Conservatory. In 1999 Thomas was a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Centre, where he worked with Tan Dun and George Benjamin amongst others. In 2008 he joined the NZSO as associate principal percussion.
Andrew Thomson
Violin/viola
Andrew studied violin performance at Victoria University and at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He is currently Principal 2nd Violin in the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and plays viola for Felix the Quartet, as well as performing in the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra.
Ken Ichinose
Cello
British cellist, Ken Ichinose, is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London having studied with Paul Watkins. During this time Ken co-founded the Galitzin String Quartet with whom he performed for ten years completing major tours in the UK, Germany, Holland, Portugal and France. The Quartet were first prize winners at the 2007 Charles Hennen International Chamber Music Competition. Ken is also co-founder of an annual chamber music festival in Brignac near Montpellier, France, and a founding member of the Kiwa String Quartet, with whom he currently performs. Before joining the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal in 2014, Ken enjoyed 10 years freelancing with London orchestras including the Philharmonia, Academy of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Alexander Gunchenko
Double Bass
Alexander Gunchenko was born in Kiev, Ukraine in June 1978. He studied at Lysenko School of Music in Kiev, Ukraine, and at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory (now Academy of Music) 1997-1999, Kiev, Ukraine. At the same time he worked with the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra (1997-1999) and National Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of Ukraine (1998–1999). In 1999, Alexander immigrated to New Zealand where joined Christchurch Symphony and took the position of Associate Principal Double Bass section in 2002. He participated in the NZ National Youth Orchestra in 2001 as an Associate Principal and in 2002 as Principal of Double Bass section. In 2003, he completed his BMus at University of Canterbury with Dale Gold and Edith Zaltzman, and freelanced with major orchestras throughout Australasia before joined the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2007. Alexander undertook masterclasses with Paul Ellison and was invited to study with Jeff Bradetich for the Elite Soloists Masterclasses in 2011. He is a member of the contemporary ensemble Stroma, as well as an active chamber music and solo recital performer.
