Each year, musicians from the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) are given the opportunity to curate immersive performances at NGV Australia responding to NGV exhibitions and collections. The only professional performance training institute of its kind, ANAM is dedicated to training exceptional young classical musicians from across Australia and New Zealand. Musicians are mentored by ANAM faculty Peter Neville as they explore new territory in this interdisciplinary collaboration.
On the 31st October, Violists Daniel Casey, Mattea Osenk and Helena Burns, with cellist Heesoo Kim, will present a program of music in dialogue with the artworks in the 20th Century Collection. The performance will explore the ways music and visual art can echo, distort and reimagine one another, moving between the earthly and celestial, the tangible and illusory, and the remembered and imagined.
Presented in partnership with the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM).
About the Performers | 31 October
Helena Burns (viola)
Helena is a Brisbane-born violist undertaking her third year at ANAM She graduated with a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours (2021), and a Master of Philosophy (2025) from the University of Queensland. Helena enjoys performing as a chamber musician and is a founding member of Amiti String Quartet. The ensemble has been increasingly active on the Australian music scene in recent years and in 2026 will release recordings of works by emerging Australian composers including Abigail Lui’s The Colour of Time and Ollie Muller’s KINETIC.
Mattea Osenk (viola)
Born in Adelaide, Mattea began her musical journey at the age of seven. She completed a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide. Mattea is currently working on curating independent concerts that focus on conceptual themes and fusing multiple art forms. She particularly enjoys experimenting with composing and performing music for the singing violist.
Daniel Casey (viola)
Daniel is a passionate young violist in his second year of studies at ANAM in 2026. His musical journey began with a love for singing, performing as a chorister with the Young Voices of Melbourne and later the Australian Boys Choir. Daniel has performed with the AYO’s orchestral and chamber programs, Opera Queensland, Ensemble Q, and has participated in side-by-side projects with the MSO and Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
Heesoo Kim (cello)
Heesoo is a cellist from the Gold Coast, currently in her third year at ANAM. Chamber music is central to Heesoo’s artistic life. She received the Henderson’s Traveller’s Quartet Scholarship in 2022 and 2023, which supported a European tour and studies with leading chamber musicians. She is particularly passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration and hopes to continue contributing to projects that bring music into dialogue with other art forms.