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NSW Secondary Schools Concerto Competition Final 2024
June 30 @ 3:00 pm
Six outstanding young musicians will perform their selected concerto with the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2024 NSW Secondary Schools Concerto Competition. The final will be adjudicated by violin virtuoso Madeleine Easton, founding Artistic Director of the Bach Akademie Australia and pianist Simon Tedeschi and conducted by KPO Artistic Director Paul Terracini.
The 2024 finalists and their chosen pieces are:
Junior division:
Jiashan Wang – piano, Piano Concerto No. 1 by Felix Mendelssohn
Cloris Xu – oboe, Oboe Concertino op.110 by J.W. Kalliwoda
Senior division:
Lara Dowdeswell – violin, Violin concerto in D minor op.47 by Jean Sibelius
Sebastian Rowe – euphonium, Concerto for Euphonium by Phillip Wilby
Jamie Wallace – cello, Cello Concerto in E Minor by Edward Elgar
Teresa Yang – violin, Violin Concerto No. 2, Sz. 112 by Béla Bartók
The finalists will compete for invaluable opportunities and cash prizes up to $10,000. The competition is open to secondary school pupils in years 7–12 at schools throughout NSW and the ACT, is in its 40th year and this year attracted close to 100 entrants.
Regarded as a stepping stone to national and international success, the competition has been held annually since 1984 and provides a rare performance opportunity for young musicians to showcase their talents as concert soloists accompanied by orchestra. The list of previous winners is a Who’s Who of famous Australian musicians including Amy Dickson, Natalie Chee, Grace Clifford, Simon Tedeschi and Anna Da Silva Chen. The final will also feature a performance of Chopin’s Andante spianato and Grande Polonaise by 2017 winner Leanne Jin. Leanne has since gone on to win the prestigious Lev Vlassenko Competition 2019, was one of two Australians selected for the 2023 Sydney International Piano Competition and is currently completing her Masters in the US at Yale School of Music.
Tickets: Standard $55 | Concession $45 | Junior/Child $20 | Family (4 tickets, max 2 adults) $125
In person: The Concourse Box Office | By phone: Concourse Box Office 8075 8111