Mid-Year Mozart Magic
18 June saw young pianists star in Galston’s first Mid-Year Mozart competitions.
As a community outreach of The Galston Concerts the Mozart themed contest attracted piano prodigies from the Hills district and across Sydney.
Competitors from the North Shore, Northern Districts, CBD, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West and Penrith vied for significant cash prizes and certificates.
Hills District piano teacher Mary Yao’s students achieved notable success with Amy Lin taking second prize in the Level One Recital Section and Rogers Zhong taking first prize in the more advanced Level 2 section.
Normanhurst-resident competition judge Tonya Lemoh, herself an internationally touring concert pianist and recording artist but also an AMEB examiner, was impressed on all fronts.
She complimented the high general standard while also admiring the benchmark qualities of musicality, stage presence and developing virtuosity of some players especially.
Robert Harris and Dorit Herskovits who are founders and artistic directors of both The Galston Concerts and the competitions are pleased that all young players seemed to enjoy the afternoon and the competition as a positive experience.
“One highly commended boy returned to his Bellevue Hill teacher aglow with his achievement, wanting to know when the next competition will happen”.
“That’s quite an accolade in a time where some see competitions as a mixed blessing” says Robert.
“That’s why we tried and seemed to succeed in making the afternoon a relaxed yet respectable event.”
“So yes we do have others competitions in mind – a search for potential Young Artists to appear in our end-of-year Gala and our 2018 series, a Bach contest for strings and guitar next March and perhaps an early return for Mr Mozart as Mozart in May.”
Enquiries can be directed to Helen Jordan, Promotions Coordinator for the Concerts, on 0425 339 841.
