Featured artists
Roman Ponomariov, Coordinator of Brass
Roman Ponomariov’s work as a teacher, academic, and performer is driven by a dedication to artistic excellence. He has performed with all major Australian symphony orchestras and has been recognised with multiple awards for his contributions to music and education, including nominations for the Monash Student Society Award for Teaching Excellence and the Monash University Arts Faculty Award for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning.
An advocate for chamber music, Roman collaborates regularly with both local and international artists. He has recorded for 3MBS and ABC and has appeared as a soloist with ensembles, including the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Since 2018, Roman has held the position of Coordinator of Brass and Lecturer in Classical Performance (French Horn) at the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance at Monash University. Beyond his university commitments, he is a dedicated mentor to young musicians, tutoring with the Australian Youth Orchestra and Melbourne Youth Orchestra, presenting guest masterclasses, and performing with Orchestra Victoria and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Peter Luff, Associate Professor, Queensland Conservatorium
Peter Luff is an Associate Professor at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University where he lectures in horn and brass performance.
Formerly Associate Principal Horn with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Peter has, and continues to perform with, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Australian World Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Southern Cross Soloists and is currently solo horn with the Brisbane based “Ensemble Q” where he performs, broadcasts and records extensively with ABC classic FM and 4MBS FM. He has toured as a solo recitalist in the USA, Japan, China, Korea, Canada and Europe.
Peter is in great demand as a Horn teacher, with many of his Horn graduates securing permanent playing positions in national and international professional symphony orchestras. Peter has served as vice president and president of the International Horn Society (IHS), is a member of the IHS Advisory Council, and a recipient of the society’s prestigious “Punto Award” for his contributions to the Australian horn playing community.
Karina Filipi, Acting Principal Tuba, Orchestra Victoria
Karina Filipi completed her Bachelor of Music in 2010 at the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide under Peter Whish-Wilson and continued her musical studies at the Sydney Conservatorium under Steve Rosse, graduating in 2013 with a Masters in Music Performance. Karina was principal tuba with the Australian Youth Orchestra from 2011-2013 and performed regularly during this time with the Adelaide, Queensland and Sydney Symphony Orchestras. In 2012 she was a semi-finalist in the Arnold Jacobs Mock Orchestral Audition category at the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference. Following this, Karina was accepted to study at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK) in Zürich, Switzerland. She completed her Master of Arts in Music Performance in 2015 under Professor Anne Jelle Visser and is near completing her Masters in Music Pedagogy. Internationally, Karina held an internship with the Biel Solothurn Orchester (CH) throughout 2014 and performed regularly with the Philharmonia Zürich, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, the Sinfonieorchester St. Gallen (CH) and the Südwestdeutsch Philharmonie Konstanz (DE).
Timothy Francis, Associate Principal Trumpet, Orchestra Victoria
Timothy grew up in Brisbane and was given his first trumpet lessons by his father at the age of six. He earned a Bachelor of Music (Performance) from the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, Griffith University studying under Phil Ryan, an Advanced Studies Diploma from the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg studying under Professor Wim Van Hasselt and a Master of Music from the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin studying under Professor William Forman and Professor Martin Wagemann. Timothy was a member of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestral Academy, Praktikant with the Staatsorchester Braunschweig and also a member of the Australian Youth Orchestra for their 2013 European Tour. Prior to joining Orchestra Victoria, Timothy was on contract with the Philharmonisches Orchester Landestheater Coburg as their second trumpet for two and a half years. He has also had the opportunity to play as a guest with the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, Ensemble Resonanz, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Timothy joined Orchestra Victoria as their Associate Principal Trumpet at the start of 2020.
Owen Morris, Principal Trumpet, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Owen joined the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as Principal Trumpet in 2019. Previously, he was Principal Trumpet with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra from 2016. Owen is an active musician around the country, working as a guest musician with many of Australia’s symphony and chamber orchestras, including the Australian World Orchestra.
Owen is a passionate educator and has been a faculty member at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music as Lecturer in Trumpet since 2020. Owen has a Bachelor of Music Studies from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and a Graduate Diploma of Psychological Sciences from Deakin University. As a teacher, Owen enjoys applying a blend of musical, technical, and mental approaches to improvements in learning.
As a soloist, Owen has performed concertos with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Youth Orchestra, Adelaide Youth Orchestra, Adelaide Wind Orchestra, and the National Band of New Zealand. Owen has also given world premieres of new trumpet works and arrangements by Australian composers such as Nigel Westlake (Psyche – Concerto for Trumpet and Chamber Orchestra), Matthew Hindson (Trumpet Concerto), and Holly Harrison (Hellbent).
Mike Szabo, Principal Bass Trombone, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Michael Szabo joined the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as Principal Bass Trombone in 2014. He has previously held positions as Bass Trombonist with the Sjællands Symfoniorkester in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra in Honolulu, Hawaii.
He has given recitals, masterclasses, made guest soloist appearances, and performed with chamber music ensembles such as the Royal Danish Brass, Aventa Ensemble, and the Honolulu Brass Quintet. Michael has also recorded for several movie scores, most notably performing on the soundtrack to the 2013 movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.