Wilma Smith is guest concertmaster of orchestras throughout Australia and New Zealand, a regular player with the Australian World Orchestra, curator/violinist/violist of Wilma & Friends, Second Violinist of the Flinders Quartet, Musica Viva’s Artistic Director of Competitions, and a committed teacher.
Born in Fiji and raised in New Zealand, Wilma studied in the US with the legendary Dorothy DeLay. She was founding first violinist of the Lydian Quartet, winners of the Naumburg Award and prizes at Evian, Banff and Portsmouth International String Quartet Competitions. She worked regularly with the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Invited by Chamber Music New Zealand to return home to establish the New Zealand String Quartet, Wilma was first violinist until her appointment as concertmaster of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and then the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. She is Co-Artistic Director of the annual Martinborough Music Festival in New Zealand.