Opera Australia announces 2026 orchestra fellows

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Five string players have been announced as Opera Australia’s Patricia H. Reid Fellows. The twelve-month programme was established in 2022 and provides career development opportunities for outstanding string players in Australia. The fellows will join the Opera Australia Orchestra for mainstage opera and ballet performances with Opera Australia and The Australian Ballet at the Sydney Opera House. 

The fellows also receive mentoring from members of the Opera Australia Orchestra and development in audition technique, performance preparation, chamber music and sustainable careers over the course of the year.

The 2026 fellows are violinists Crystal Jia Gu and Fiona Qiu, violist Ariel Postmus, cellist Rena Moore and bassist Alexandra Thompson. 

Violinist Crystal Jia Gu completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and University of Sydney under Goetz Richter, Janet Davis, and Timothy Kantor. She has also undertaken violin studies at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music with He Xian. 

Violinist Fiona Qiu recently completed her master’s at the Mozarteum University Salzburg under Lily Francis and also studied at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) with Robin Wilson and Sophie Rowell. She won first prize at the 23rd Kendall National Violin Concerto and was a 2025 Australian Chamber Orchestra Emerging Artist. She is a founding member of the Artamidae String Quartet, with whom she has had masterclass with the Emerson, Australian and Dover string quartets, among others. 

Originally from Perth, Western Australia, violist Ariel Postmus completed her studies at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts under Paul Wright and at ANAM. In 2025, she was a viola fellow in the Sydney Symphony Fellowship programme. She has performed with the Melbourne, West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, as well as the Auckland Philharmonia, Australian String Quartet, Orchestra Victoria, Victorian Opera and members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. 

Cellist Rena Moore recently completed her bachelor’s at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under Julian Smiles and Georg Pederson. As an orchestral player, she has held principal positions within Sydney Conservatorium orchestras, and played in the Australian Youth Orchestra, Willoughby Symphony, Ensemble Apex, The Orchestra Project and Caesura Ensemble.

Orginally from Adelaide, double bassist Alexandra Thompson undertook her bachelor’s at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music with Alex Henery. She is a casual musician with the Sydney and Adelaide symphony orchestras and the Opera Australia Orchestra. She has played in the Sydney Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide Youth Orchestra, frequently as either the principal or associate principal bass.