The Board

Chair: Max Holzner

BMus (hons), MAICD, MMTA

Governance Committee (Chair) / Benevolent Fund Committee / Accreditation Committee

Maximilian Holzner is the current Chair of the Music Teachers’ Association of NSW (MTANSW), having led the organisation through a sustained period of structural renewal and strategic repositioning. Originally appointed as inaugural Chair under the Association’s reformed governance framework in 2021, he continues to play a pivotal role in modernising and strengthening the organisation’s operations, impact, and reach.

Under Max’s leadership, MTANSW has undertaken comprehensive constitutional and governance reforms, embedding a skills-based board, clarifying the distinction between governance and management, and advancing a renewed strategic focus on professional standards, accreditation, and national collaboration. These reforms have significantly enhanced MTANSW’s ability to deliver on its charitable Objects and to represent the diverse community of music educators working across independent studios, schools, and tertiary institutions.

An accomplished violinist and educator, Max studied with Josette Esquedin-Morgan and Barbara Jane Gilby, and is an alumnus of both the University of Cambridge and the Australian National University. He has performed with many of Australia’s leading orchestras and chamber ensembles, and worked alongside renowned conductor and musicologist Christopher Hogwood at the Academy of Ancient Music in the UK, preparing critical editions for Bärenreiter including Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

Max has more than 20 years of teaching experience and has held academic and performance teaching roles at Radford College, the Australian National University, and Churchill College, Cambridge. He is a passionate advocate for excellence and access in music education, and has focused his recent efforts on lifting standards and expanding opportunity - particularly in Western Sydney and in regional and remote communities.

Beyond MTANSW, Max serves as Chair of Sydney Eisteddfod, where he is leading a major organisational renewal. He is also Chair and founding board member of Western Sydney Philharmonic (WestPhil), a nationally significant orchestral training initiative under the patronage of Kim Williams AM dedicated to empowering young musicians and championing artistic excellence in the region. As CEO and Co-Founder of Gradus Software, he oversees the development of digital platforms delivering curriculum-aligned support for music teachers and students, backed by the NSW Treasury.

A member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Max brings significant expertise in not-for-profit governance and policy. His leadership is informed by a commitment to artistic integrity, rigorous standards, and the belief that access to quality music education is a right, not a privilege.

Director: Irma Enriquez hompson

BA (Piano hons) NAU Mexico Lic (Piano) NAU MexicoMA (Art History)

Irma Enriquez a Mexican Australian pianist, she obtained her piano degree in 1993 with Aurelio Leon P. She received an Honourable Mention when obtaining her piano degree and for the recording of unpublished Mexican Contemporary Music. In 1994 she obtained the Diploma in Art at the National University of Mexico. In 1996 she completed her Master of Art at the University of Navarre, Spain. She participated in the international project “Musical Iconography of the Visual Arts in Mexico” as a researcher in the National Institute of Arts (INBA) at the CENIDIM from 1997 to 2000. She has taken numerous master classes with internationals experts such as: Edith Picht, Irene Schreier, Nelson Camacho, France Clidat, Martha Marchena, Bernard Flavigny, Ireneus Zuck, Stephan Seebas, Michael Block, Mark Zeltzer, Jorge Demus, Ari Valdi, Jean Paul Sevilla, Joaquin Achucarro, among others. Her professional career includes being the accompanist of the Choir of the Asturian Centre in Mexico from 1989 to 1991, she has also participated in various concerts of chamber music, piano and vocal music in Mexico, USA, Canada, Spain, Italy, Indonesia and Australia.

Irma is a recipient of several awards: in 1993 in Mexico received first prize and medal UNAM "Gustavo Baz Prada" for Cultural Promotion. In 2010 the Australian Hispanic Women Business Network´s Annual Award in recognition of her Outstanding Achievement in the promotion of her Hispanic heritage in Australia. In 2011 she was nominated in Mexico for the National Prize in Arts, for her initiative and intensive promotion of Mexican Concert Music in Australia. In 2015 Irma was finalist at the Vivid Sydney- Creative Achievement Award, as a pioneer musician of Latin American chamber music. In 2018, Irma received an Honourable award from the embassies of Mexico and Venezuela at the ANU-ANCLAS, in recognition for her valuable contribution of the Latin America music in Australia. In 2019 she received from the Mexican government the ’Distinguished Mexican Recognition’ for her impeccable trajectory.

Enriquez is a member of the Music Teachers Association of NSW and was previously an Associate professor of ANU-ANCLAS. Cofounder in 2008 of Duo Deconet and since 2018 founder and artistic director of MIA-Music from Ibero America in Australia (www.iberoamericanmusic.com.au). She has been formally included in four books: A Chronological History of Australian Composers and musicians by S. Pleskun; The Swallows: women’s stories, an Anthology by Hispanic Women writers 2012; Identity and Memory- 20 Stories of Latin American Women, 2014 by S. Alfaro Enriquez and 10 years STANSW by Ladis Sosa, 2018.

Since 2001 Irma has participated in Hispanic and Australian radio interviews, performing with voice and music on Spanish radio; in 2017 she participated in the documentary: ‘Mujer, tu me inspiras’- ‘Women you Inspired me’ for SBS Spanish. Irma has been guest speaker in conferences of ‘Music for children with special needs’ for the STANSW and ‘Women day’ for the Latin American community. She appears in several articles, in 2019 including Latin Stories Australia and on TV Canal 22-Noticias 22 Diaspora cultural Mexico. With the writer and journalist Jaqueline Buswell, they presented the Conference-Concert of Evolution of the Mexican Concert Music 20th&21st centuries at the ANU-ANCLAS. She has collaborated on the celebrations of the Cervantes Institute in Sydney, ‘10 years is just the beginning’, promoting the Spanish language as well as composers from IberoAmerica in Australia. 

During 2020 Irma has participated in international conferences, interviews and as a Juror in Piano competitions. Also collaborated with online concerts and completed a Diploma in Opera Mexicana coordinated by México and Spain, works by Manuel de Sumaya with the Mexican tenor Diego Torre. She wrote an article for Revista Mexicana de Arte: ‘La importancia de la difusión de la música mexicana de concierto’ (The importance of promoting Mexican concert music).

Irma has participated in several radio Hispanic interviews in Australia, Costa Rica, Spain, and Mexico, teaching online and surviving during the pandemic as a freelance musician. She was part of the Jury for the 16th International Piano Contest Villahermosa -Mexico online.

In February 2021 gave a talk about Contemporary Mexican Women Composers with the Embassy of México in Australia. in March performed and talk at the 1st Digital festival – Women in Music/ MUJERES EN LA MUSICA con la OFAM Orizaba México, ‘La música Mexicana de concierto como identidad cultural’. In March, celebrating International Women Day, Irma performed in a concert collaboration between Australia-México with music from USA, Spain, El Salvador, Argentina, Australia y México with ComuArte Internacional XXV Internacional y XXI Iberoamerican Women in Arts 2021 series, championing women composers.

In September in combination with the Embassy of Australia in Mexico during the Celebrations of Bicentenaries Independence of Mexico 211 years, participated with musical videos for the Latin-American community and presented an online talk invited by OFAM Orizaba, Neo romanticism of Alfonso de Elias. In November closed the 8º Festival Composition UANL with the conference: Sonoric impact- Women composers from Mexico with the UANL Mexico during the Celebration 2021.

In March 2022 was nominated at the Hills Shire Council for the International Women’s Day 2022 # Break the Bias, as a recognition of her successful and imminent promotion of concert music in the multicultural frame. In September 2022 presented at the National Gallery of Australia, in Canberra with great success the concert ‘Mexico 22 in Asia Pacific’, as a duet with the tenor Diego Torre, with a program of original commissions in indigenous languages from Mexico. This event was the first of its kind involving famous ethnomusicologists, composers, historians, and the most successful Mexican Australians artists in this part of the world. Their performance has been seen in various continents with great reviews.

In October 2022 gave a talk at the presentation of the bilingual edition of the book Migration: Identity and memory by Susana Alfaro Enriquez in Newcastle. Also, performed Australian music as a soloist, at the concert of Margaret Brandman’s Music at Mosman Art Gallery in Sydney.

In 2023 Irma has been travelling and dedicated to nurture students for piano competitions in Australia. She participated on diverse platforms for the Mexican abroad IME – Mexico, focus on professional migrant women, as well as Latin American women in Australia.

In March 2024 presented the lifetime work of ComuArte Internacional 30 years commemorating IWD, at the University of Sydney, SURCLA. Participated in conferences for the Languages department at Macquarie University. In October presented the concert ‘Women’s Music and Poetry from Latin America’, the first of its kind in Asia pacific at Wesley Music Centre, Canberra.

Irma has been appointed as a board member at The Council on Australia Latin America Relations (COALAR- DFAT), representing the Creative Art sector. She completed a Diploma in Governance and Cultural Diplomacy at the Universidad Panamericana of Mexico UP. 

Non-Member Director: Tracy Harber

Non-Member Director: Rachael Zavodnyik

LLM, Grad. Dip. Law (International), Grad. Dip. Legal Prac., LLB (Hons)

Rachael is Assoc. Vice President and Assistant General Counsel - Head of Legal APAC – at Infosys.

She is an accomplished executive who brings extensive governance and legal knowledge experience, along with a life-long passion for music and music education, to the MTANSW.