MUSIC
MUSIC LEADERS
2021 – LEFT TO RIGHT : LEON FEI ( YEAR 11 ), BEN GARSON
( YEAR 12 ), DEREK PHILLIPS ( YEAR 12 ), ADAM PAI ( YEAR 12 – CAPTAIN OF
MUSIC ), GORDON NGAN ( YEAR 12 ), THOMAS LAW ( YEAR 12 ), KAEDEN KABO ( YEAR 10 ). ( ABSENT : RICHARD LIU
( YEAR 12 ))
( Year 12 – horn ) won the Victorian region of Musica Viva ’ s Strike a Chord competition in late 2020 , and performed at a special concert as part of the Bendigo Festival in February 2021 .
In this year ’ s Musica Viva Strike a Chord competition , our Two Pianos Junior Ensemble ( Brendan Teoh , Christian Heng ( both Year 7 ), Joel Heng and Damien Tey ( both Year 6 )) won the junior division , and our senior string quartet – the James Campbell Quartet ( Leon Fei ( Year 11 ), Lachlan Chen ( Year 11 ), Neil Wang ( Year 9 ) and Justin Sheng ( Year 12 )), coached by Wilma Smith and Ben Castle , reached the national finals of the competition , winning cash prizes and a Masterclass at the Australian National Academy of Music . This is a national competition for school-aged students , and is the most prestigious competition for chamber music at school level .
In other Chamber Music news , Trio con Brio ( Edward Song ( Year 10 – piano ), Geoff Liu ( Year 9 – violin ), and Duc Luu ( Year 9 – cello ) was awarded first prize in the under 16 chamber ensemble section of the Ringwood Eisteddfod .
A special highlight for the year is the Chamber Music Dinner , hosted by the Curator of Chamber Music Studies , Anne Brisk . Sadly , Lockdown 6 meant it had to be cancelled again , along with the Foundation Day Concert .
The Symphony Orchestra ’ s annual Winter Concert was rescheduled due to lockdowns – three times , in fact ! At the time of writing we were hoping to perform the program on 7 December ( as the Summer Prom Concert ). The program includes Danzon No 2 by Marquez , Violin Concerto No 3 by Saint-Saëns , with a different soloist for each movement ( Lachlan Chen ( Year 11 ), Geoff Liu ( Year 9 ) and Leon Fei ( Year 11 ) respectively ), and Dvorak ’ s Symphony No 8 in G major .
A number of concerts had to be cancelled , including the annual choirs , strings and bands concerts , as well as numerous recitals . The Year 5 / 6 concert , the first concert under the direction of Emma Macrae , Head of Junior School Music , was recorded and uploaded for the parents . The Junior School Strings Camp got as far as the first day , but had to return before the boys opened their sleeping bags due to Lockdown 4 ( 27 May ).
With respect to individual boys , there are some exceptional achievements worthy of note .
In terms of international recognition , Christian Li ( Year 8 ) is quite possibly one of the very best violinists ever to come out of Australia . He is the youngest violinist to win the Yehudi Menuhin Competition in Geneva , and the youngest person to be signed by Decca recordings in London . His debut album of Vivaldi ’ s Four Seasons with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has just been launched to great acclaim , and debuted at number one in the ARIA Core Classical and Classical / Crossover charts in Australia , for the week beginning 30 August .
Christian has been broadcast internationally , and articles in major international music journals speak of him as the next great prodigy – alongside Pinchas Zuckerman , Itzhak Perlman and Menuhin himself . He has performed concertos with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra , the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra , Orchestra Victoria and others ,
44 Great Scot Issue 164 – December 2021