2025 Conductors
2025 Conducting Fellows:
Samiu Uatahausi, Alex Eichelbaum, Robertanna Moa, Tavite Tonga,
Naomi Hnat, Anne Filimoehala, Lior Balachness, Wayne Gao
Fellows
Lior Balachness
Born in 2001, Lior is an accomplished opera and orchestral conductor who has assisted renowned conductors and is also a skilled percussionist, oboist, and pianist.
Lior has attended masterclasses across Europe and served as an associate conductor at the Cameri Theatre. In 2024, he was appointed assistant conductor for the Haifa Symphony Orchestra's Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore production and has conducted a production of La Boheme in Italy.
He holds a B.Mus. in Orchestral Conducting from the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, receiving guidance from distinguished conductors such as Maestro Lahav Shani and Zubin Mehta. Lior has conducted and coached various operas and musicals, inspiring others with his dedication, and has worked with most of the orchestras in Israel, including the Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Buchmann-Mehta Symphony Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Israeli Camerata Orchestra, the Israel Flute Choir, Tel Aviv Soloists Ensemble, and more.
Naomi Hnat
Naomi recently completed a Masters in Choral Conducting with Simon Halsey at the University of Birmingham, having previously completed postgraduate conducting studies with Dr. Karen Grylls at the University of Auckland. She is the newly appointed Director of the Christchurch Youth Orchestra, and had her conducting debut with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra last year. Naomi was a 2023 NZSO Conducting Fellow and was a conducting intern for Voices New Zealand in 2020 and the New Zealand Youth Choir in 2021.
In 2020, she founded the chamber choir Epiphony, bringing together some of Christchurch’s best choral singers to create meaningful performances. As a registered teacher, she also directed various secondary school choirs in Christchurch from 2017-2023, achieving selection for The Big Sing Finale seven times. Naomi has been a section cellist with the CSO since 2011, and also works as a freelance cellist with a particular interest in collaborating with crossover artists and folk musicians.
Sam Uatahausi
Sam Uatahausi is a talented musician and conductor originally from the Kingdom of Tonga. Sam is very blessed to have his education in New Zealand as a graduate student from the University of Auckland, where he completed a BMus in Classical Performance, a BMus (Honours) in Conducting under Associate Professor Dr Karen Grylls in 2022, and a graduate diploma in Teaching (Secondary). His deep passion for music and unwavering dedication to his craft continue to propel him to new heights in his career.
The year 2023 saw him as a member of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's Brass & Percussion tour to Tonga, a full-circle moment connecting his present achievements to his cultural roots. In 2024, he was accepted in the NZSO Conducting Fellowship and had the opportunity to conduct the NZSO Auckland Open Doors concerts. Sam is currently a Music Teacher at Auckland Seventh-day Adventist High School in Māngere. Sam is looking forward to a big year in 2025 in his conducting.
Associate Fellow
Anne Filimoehala
Anne Filimoehala was raised in a musical family and stepped into the world of brass bands at age six. In addition to being the principal horn for Waitākere Auckland Brass, she has toured with the National Secondary Schools Brass Band and National Youth Brass Band and has won various awards regionally and nationally. In 2021, Anne graduated from the University of Auckland with a BMus (Hons) under the tutelage of Mark Bennett, majoring in classical performance in violin. Anne is currently the Lead Tutor at Sistema Aotearoa, co-founder of the WLCA concert series, and runs her studio where she teaches privately. Since becoming a Conducting Fellow, she has toured with the NZSO to Tonga, received several conducting gigs with the APO, and works with many ensembles within various communities of Tāmaki Makaurau. Anne thrives on the success of the community groups she works with and continues to make ‘music-making’ accessible to all.
Alex Eichelbaum
Alex is an active conductor and performer on both clarinet and saxophone. He completed an Honours Degree in Classical Performance Clarinet at the University of Auckland, with secondary studies in saxophone performance and conducting.
As an instrumentalist, he spent three years touring New Zealand as 1st Clarinet and Tenor Saxophonist with the Royal New Zealand Navy Band. Accolades earned include the Annual Adjudicators' Awards for his performances on solo clarinet and with the UoACB Saxophone Quartet in the 2015 NZCBA National Festival. He has also given critically acclaimed performances of contemporary music, receiving a Lilburn Trust Performance Award in 2013 and 2015 from the University of Auckland.
He is the current Music Director of the award-winning Manukau Concert Band. He assisted in the formation, running, and performed as Assistant Conductor of the NZ Youth Symphonic Winds and remains a sought-after clinician with bands around the Tāmaki Makaurau area.
Tavite Tonga
Tavite is currently at the University of Auckland, studying a Bachelor of Music and Arts majoring in Classical Performance (Trombone) and Criminology. He has performed with Bach Musica, Auckland Choral, Auckland Youth Orchestra, Manukau Symphony Orchestra and has been the Principal Bass Trombone of the NZSO National Youth Orchestra for the past two years.
Alongside playing, Tavite is an active educator throughout Auckland. He teaches Low Brass at Baradene College, Trombone at Dilworth Junior Campus and leads the Concert Band Programme at Pukekohe High School.
Wayne Gao
Wayne is an Auckland-based conductor and composer passionate about the expressions of classical and contemporary music. He is a member of the Composers Association of New Zealand (CANZ).
As a conductor, Wayne conducted the premiere of his original composition “A Nightingale in the Darkness” with the NZSO during the 2024 CANZ Workshop at the Michael Fowler Centre. He conducted Stravinsky’s Octet for Winds at the 2024 OCT Ensemble Workshop in Hamilton. He was also the director of the Macleans Chamber Orchestra in 2023.
As a composer, Wayne’s orchestral work “Cosmic Dance” was performed by the NZSO at the 2023 NZSO Todd Young Composer’s Award under the baton of Maestro James Judd. In 2024, his work “A Nightingale in the Darkness” was performed by the NZSO in Wellington and received its European premiere by the St. Christopher Chamber Orchestra in Lithuania.
Robertanna Moa
Robertanna currently works at Sistema Aotearoa teaching strings to students ranging from year 2 to year 13. 2024 had been one of her greatest years where she had the opportunity to serve as the musical director for a play called Koroseta, which encouraged her to step out of her comfort zone and grow as a leader. She also became a member of a new group, V7 (Dominant Seven), a group of musicians passionate about performing a wide variety of music.
She was privileged to be an intern for the 2024 Conducting Fellowship, where she gained invaluable insights from observing the exceptional conducting fellows. She also had the chance to conduct the NZSO string ensembles and received valuable feedback from Hamish McKeich and James Judd. She looks forward to stepping in as an Associate Fellow this year and is eager to continue progressing toward creating innovative musical experiences.
Interns
Jackson McCarthy
Jackson McCarthy is a poet and musician from Auckland currently studying at Te Kōki | New Zealand School of Music in Wellington. He is of mixed Māori and Lebanese descent. His poetry has been published widely in local literary journals, including Best New Zealand Poems. He currently serves as an editor at both Symposia and Salient magazines. At Te Kōki, he studies flute with Bridget Douglas and conducting with Martin Riseley.
Pablo Ruiz Henao
Pablo joined the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in 2016 where he is Principal Bass Trombone. During the previous two decades he performed extensively in orchestras and bands in his native Colombia. He held the position of Principal Bass Trombone of the Colombian National Symphony, Before he went to continue his bass trombone studies in the Netherlands, where he created a very successful freelancing career, covering Holland, Belgium, Germany and Denmark.
A versatile musician, he has mastered a variety of instruments including Bass trombone, Euphonium, Tenor trombone, Tuba and percussion, as well as a range of musical idioms traversing classical symphonic forms, music theatre, salsa and concert bands, and avant-garde.
Since arriving in Christchurch, Pablo has undertaken a number of performing and conducting assignments including directing the “50s Up” brass band, Risingholme Orchestra, Big Play In at the CSO, as well as accepting freelance commissions as an arranger, composer and teacher.