CONDUCTORS

MARK CARTER

Music Director, Wellington Youth Orchestra

Mark was born in Poole, Dorset, and began playing the cornet at the age of seven.

He later joined the school brass band and became a member of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. Aged seventeen, Mark took his first trumpet lesson and later studied at The Royal Academy of Music in London with John Wilbraham.

During his final year of study, Mark participated in the Royal Academy of Music exchange programme, which allowed him to study at The Queensland Conservatorium of Music in Brisbane. Since then, he has performed with the Cape Town Opera and Ballet Orchestra, the Queensland Philharmonic, the Queensland Orchestra, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Mark currently teaches at the New Zealand School of Music. He is also the musical director of the Wellington Youth Orchestra and the Hutt Valley Orchestra, a dedicated community orchestra of amateur players.

When he's not immersed in the world of music, Mark can be found conquering the rugged hills around Wellington and the Hutt Valley on his trusty mountain bike.

CHRIS VAN DER ZEE
Music Director, Wellington Youth Sinfonietta

Christiaan van der Zee is a professional violist, music educator and maths teacher. Trained in South Africa, Wellington, Germany and USA, he was also a founding member of the Tasman String Quartet. The Tasmans were participants, finalists and prize winners in several international competitions in the USA, Germany and Australia, and also toured for Chamber Music New Zealand.

Alongside his work as a maths teacher, Christiaan is Principal Viola in Orchestra Wellington and plays regularly with the NZSO. He is an active chamber musician and runs the Karori Classics chamber music for charity series in Wellington together with a group of wonderful volunteers. Christiaan loves working with young people in a music setting and since 2012 he has been specialising in the training of youth ensembles and youth orchestras.