Born in Dunedin in 1963, Miranda has been Assistant Concertmaster with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra since 1994, and has performed concertos with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (1986 finalist in the TVNZ Young Musicians Competition) , Manukau Symphony, St Matthews in the City and many Regional NZ orchestras. She studied violin with Harvey Strang, Pamela Bryce, Elsa Jensen, Charmian Gadd, and also Karin Adam (in Vienna 2014 through an APO study grant). She holds a Post Graduate Diploma in violin and conducting from Otago University, also winning a scholarship to study Javanese Gamelan in Surakarta in 1985. Miranda has vast chamber music experience within NZ, most recently leading the Jade String Quartet since 2003, and also was a member of the world music group Bravura from 1999 til 2009, with several CDs of both these groups on Rattle Records. Miranda has commissioned over 20 works, mostly string quartets by NZ’s best known composers including David Hamilton, Ross Harris, Eve de Castro, John Elmsly, Leonie Holmes and Jonathan Besser.  As a conductor Miranda has performed with the APO, St Matthew Chamber Orchestra, NZSSSO and has been involved with the Westlake Chamber Orchestra since 1991, which she very much enjoys. Miranda lives on a rural property in West Auckland with her husband Robert Ashworth, their daughter, and many horses , cows, bees and other creatures.

Harris Leung is a graduate of the University of Waikato and was a semifinalist of the National String Competition 2021. He was an Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Fellow in 2019 and often plays in orchestras throughout the country as section leader or associate concertmaster. Harris led the St Matthew's Chamber Orchestra for their 2024 season and has recently been featured as soloist with Auckland groups including the Handel Consort and Quire, Philharmonic Society Orchestra, and Sunday Club. Harris also enjoys teaching from his studio and is an experienced chamber music coach, having prepared groups for the Chamber Music Contest in Auckland and Hamilton and organised many string quartet performances.

Ben leads a varied musical career, balancing his chamber music work and orchestral projects around his enthusiasm for coaching young musicians.

 

Ben studied at the Royal College of Music, London with Ivo-Jan van der Werff, Jonathan Barritt, Simon Rowland-Jones and Lawrence Power. Ben then joined Southbank Sinfonia in 2011 subsequently performing in many concerts both as orchestral player and as chamber musician. As a chamber musician he has performed throughout the UK and Europe and attended International Music Seminar Prussia Cove, working closely with the Endellion Quartet’s David Waterman and participating in the Winter Residency Programme at Banff, Canada.

 

Ben made his Wigmore Hall debut with his string quartet in 2017. He has also performed at the North Norfolk Music festival with the Arienski Ensemble and performed Schumann's Quintet with Raphael Wallfisch. Since Moving to New Zealand in 2022 Ben has performed with the Auckland Philharmonia, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Wellington and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra.

Karen French was based in London as an orchestral and chamber musician before she returned to New Zealand in 2021. She began playing the cello aged 9 and went on to study with David Chickering while at school and later with Edith Salzmann at the University of Canterbury, graduating with a Bachelor of Music with Honours in 2008.She then moved to Germany to study with Professor Mario De Secondi at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Trossingen.

 

In 2011 Karen was selected to play in Southbank Sinfonia. With Southbank Sinfonia Karen has performed with Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, BBC Concert Orchestra and in the National Theatre performing in Jonathan Miller’s staged version of St. Matthew Passion and at the Royal Opera House. She has also performed in Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth hall and LSO St. Luke’s and other venues around the UK. She has also played with NZSO, Orchestra Wellington and the Christchurch Symphony in New Zealand.

 

As a chamber musician Karen is a founding member of the Alke Quartet and the Enceladus Ensemble. The Alke Quartet have performed throughout the UK including, Wigmore Hall, St Martin-in-the-Field, St James, Piccadilly, Bath Pump Rooms and the Barbican. The quartet were finalists in the St Martin-in-the-Fields Chamber Competition and the Royal Overseas League Chamber Music Competition. They were participants at International Music Seminar Prussia Cove and were selected for a Banff Winter Residency. They werealso selected for a residency at the Royal College of Music on the Chamber Music Course from 2015-2017, kindly supported by a legacy from the late Albert and Eugenie Frost.