Vesa-Matti Lepännen, violin

Born and raised in Finland, Vesa-Matti Leppänen moved to New Zealand in 2000. He was appointed NZSO Concertmaster 12 years ago and has earned international recognition for his musicianship as a chamber musician, teacher, jurist, and soloist.

Andrew Thomson, violin/viola

Andrew has been Principal Second Violin in the NZSO since 2000.  He is an active chamber musician, playing viola for Felix the Quartet and contemporary music ensemble Stroma. Andrew plays on a 1770 Johannes Theodorus Cuypers violin kindly lent to the orchestra by Dr Reinhard Voss.

Nicholas Hancox, viola

Nicholas joined the NZSO viola section in 2019 following almost seven years as principal violist of the Lübeck Philharmonic in Germany. He studied in Wellington with Gillian Ansell, Munich with Hariolf Schlichtig and Michigan with Yizhak Schotten.

Andrew Joyce, cello

Before joining the NZSO in 2010, Andrew spent five years freelancing in London, working regularly with the major orchestras and performing in the world’s greatest concert halls. A dedicated chamber musician, Andrew co-founded the Puertas Quartet who performed in NZ and the UK to great critical acclaim and recorded two CDs for Atoll Records. He plays a beautiful old English cello by Thomas Dodd, c. 1800, kindly loaned to him by Old and New Strings Ltd.

Samuel Jacobs, horn 1

Samuel Jacobs is the Principal horn of the NZSO, following three years as Principal horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. While in the UK he performed as guest Principal horn with most of the leading symphony orchestras and recorded in the pop and soundtrack industries. Outside of music, Sam has been an extra in the hit Bollywood movie ‘Blue’ and appeared on four UK television quiz shows, including Countdown.

Shadley van Wyk, horn 2

Shadley has been Principal Horn of Orchestra Wellington since 2015 and on contract as Sub-Principal Horn of the NZSO since last year and. He has also performed with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.

 

Programme