Piano & Instrumental Competition
Einstein was two parts renowned scientist, one jigger pacifist and Zionist fundraiser, and a dash amateur musician…Einstein himself seems to have favoured the musician over all of his other “parts.” “Life without playing music is inconceivable for me,” he once said, “I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music…I get most joy in life out of music.” Josh Jones Washington-based writer and musician.
Certainly, one of the great joys for the entire school in recent times has been the Piano & Instrumental Competition 2020 which attracted almost 100 participants from University Campus, Plenty Campus, Buckley House and The Ridgeway Campus. The standard was very high, and everyone involved stepped into the reality of an online presentation with focus and tenacity; music-making was first and foremost the name of the game.
Repertoire choices were varied and multi-coloured, enabling each musician to focus on a style of playing that they connected-to. Members of the extended Ivanhoe family can experience the joy of Poulenc, Rachmaninov & Bach, rubbing shoulders with music penned by Johnny Greene or Stephen J. Wood.
The power of our times is that we can capture these moments in recorded performances for the broader community to experience, and that is just what we invite you to do. Click here to view the concert, we can promise you an hour of delight.
That we attracted the interest and support of internationally renowned performer Elizabeth Sellars as this year’s adjudicator was a coup. Her commentary encapsulated both the excellence and potential of the young music-makers participating, but also the quality and detail manifest in the teaching. Consistent in her feedback was mention of excellent facility, intensity and commitment, variety, atmosphere, engagement, contrast, colour, nuance, dynamics and spontaneity. High praise indeed, which leads us to the awardees.
In the Junior Performer section, we congratulate
1st Place Yinian Lin – Year 4L Clementi – Sonatina
2nd Place Alicia Wong – Year 5G Norton – Sea Bird
3rd Place Michael Mai – Year 4M Chua – Jive Turkey
In the Senior Instrumental Performer section, we congratulate
1st Place James Li – P11.2 Poulenc – Sonata 2nd MVT
2nd Place Clancy McCue – Year 10S2 – Greene – Body and Soul
3rd Place Callum Rothnie – Year 11S2 – Telemann Fantasia
In the Intermediate Performer section, we congratulate
1st Place. Thomas Franklin – Year 8 – Bach Invention No.13
2nd Place Ella Baldemir – Year 8 – Fix You -Berryman
3rd Place Phil Ou – Year 7 – Haydn Sonata 1mvt
In the Senior Piano Performer section, we congratulate
1st Place Vincent Chih – Year 11A2 – Rachmaninov Prelude in C#minor
2nd Place Kate Hamilton – Year 10S3 – Chopin – Revolutionary
3rd Place Angus Dillon – Year 9 S1 – Wood-Stomp
The School offers sincere thanks to the staff who have worked tirelessly in coordinating this large event across the campuses. In particular, Rachel Burke, Mark Lauber and Fiona Chindamo who have all been major players in bringing this event to its successful fruition.
