Laura Winter began her musical journey by starting piano lessons at age seven; she started studying harp under Julie Raines at age 10 and instantly fell in love! She began working as an orchestral harpist at 15 and in her short career has been privileged to play for conductors such as Benjamin Northey, Nigel Westlake, Natalia Raspopova, Roy Theaker and Christopher Kopke. She is currently the Principal Harpist of both the Monash Academy Orchestra and the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra; along with this she regularly performs with many community and semi-professional orchestras around Melbourne.
A passionate believer in quality music education, she also loves working with young people to share the joy of music through teaching. Laura has been teaching since 2014 and her students have performed at community concerts as well as successfully completed exams. She can prepare students to take both AMEB or Trinity exams, but also loves to simply share the joy of music with students who want to learn for fun!
Laura passed both her AMusA and ATCL exams in 2018 and graduated from the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music (Monash University) in 2019 with a Bachelor of Music, specialising in classical performance.
Jacob Winter was born into a family who loved music, so it comes as no surprise that he has developed into a passionate musician. He spent a few years learning some musical basics on the piano before taking up the double bass at age 11. He was as hard-working as he was talented, progressing through technical skills and repertoire steadily; against all odds he passed his Grade 8 exam at the end of 2020, having spent most of the year learning online due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. Jacob was awarded a scholarship with Melbourne Youth Orchestras three years in a row, playing in both the Melbourne Youth Strings and Percy Grainger Youth Orchestra, which also allowed him the opportunity to begin studying under Emma Sullivan. He now plays for the Heidelberg Symphony Orchestra. While finishing his high school education he regularly attends music camps, workshops and masterclasses, often as principal/featured double bassist.