The 2024 NSW Secondary Schools Concerto Competition Final Set For This Month

Six individual finalists in the 2024 NSW Secondary Schools Concerto Competition will perform their selected concerto with the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra on Sunday afternoon 30 June.

The outstanding young musicians – who have battled through heat and semi-final rounds to reach the prestigious event - are competing for invaluable opportunities and cash prizes up to $10,000.

The competition, 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.

The final will be adjudicated by internationally recognised musicians, violin virtuoso Madeleine Easton & pianist Simon Tedeschi.

Regarded as a stepping stone to national and international success, the competition has been held annually since 1984 and provides an invaluable 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 & 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 & is currently completing her Masters in the US at Yale School of Music.  

20 young artists performed in the semifinals and six who did not make the final were highly commended. KPO Artistic Director and Conductor Paul Terracini said it was incredibly encouraging to witness the extremely high standard of competitors.

 “With only six available places in the final, it is not an exaggeration to say that there could have been at least twice that number chosen without any drop in quality. This prestigious competition continues to go from strength to strength.”

The 2024 finalists and their 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