Prodigies Concerto Competition

Symphony Central Coast continues to recognise and support emerging talent as we present our Concerto Competition on Sunday 17 September at Central Coast Grammar School Performing Arts Centre. This competition is held every two years and is open to all musicians on the Central Coast under the age of 25.

16 August 2023

 

THERE are four performers in this year’s competition – Minjy Lee, Sophie Kelly, Matthew Ardern and Kaito Deed. They have chosen works by Mozart, Carl Reinecke, Rachmaninov, and Tchaikovsky and each will perform a movement or movements from a concerto up to 15 minutes in length. The Prodigies Concerto Competition will be held at Central Coast Grammar School Performing Arts Centre on Sunday, 17 September at 2.30pm. Tickets can be purchased online here.

 

Concertos are works for solo instrument and orchestra and are an opportunity for an outstanding player to show their artistry and virtuosity accompanied by a large orchestra. These works require great dexterity and musical maturity, all of which will be in plentiful supply at this concert.

 

Phillip Shovk, from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, will adjudicate for the first prize of $1500, sponsored by Rotary Club of North Gosford and audience members are encouraged to vote for the People’s Choice award of $500, also sponsored by Rotary Club of North Gosford. Both prizes will be awarded at the conclusion of the concert and the winners will be invited to perform with Symphony Central Coast in 2024.

 

Minjy Lee - Mozart Violin Concerto in G major

 

Minjy is a 15-year-old Gosford High student who started her musical journey aged 6. She is currently working towards her AMusA diploma under the supervision of Karina Hollands. Minjy has participated in concerts are the Principal Second Violin of Regional Youth Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.

 

Additionally, Minjy was an Allen Family Scholarship finalist in 2022, a Junior Instrumental finalist in 2020, the Pearl Beach (Senior) People’s Choice winner in 2022 and, in 2023,  a Pearl Beach (Senior) finalist.

 

Minjy has chosen a violin concerto by Mozart, a composer who needs no introduction and whose output is inversely proportional to the length of his life. His Violin Concerto in G major, written when he was just 19, is packed with his usual graceful charm and vitality.

 

Sophie Kelly - Carl Reinecke/Flute Concerto in D major

 

Sophie is in her second year of a Bachelor of Music (Performance) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, under the tutelage of James Kortum.Through her degree, Sophie has performed as a member of the Sydney Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Wind Ensemble, on both flute and piccolo.

 

Previously she has held the position of principal flute with the Central Coast Youth Orchestra and Regional Orchestra NSW, where she had the opportunity to work alongside musicians from Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Australian World Orchestra and Staatskapelle Berlin Orchestra.

 

Sophie is performing the flute concerto by Carl Reinecke, a Danish composer highly respected in his day and compared favourably to Brahms and Mendelssohn. The Flute Concerto, composed in 1908, is the last work he wrote and opens in a leisurely and dreamy mood, but soon turns lyrical and adventurous.

 

Matthew Ardern - Rachmaninov/Piano Concerto No. 2

 

Matthew, hailing from Terrigal, is currently studying a Master of Music under the tutelage of Ludmila Beliaviskia at Excelsia College. Matthew’s musical journey began with piano lessons at the age of 6 and, over the next decade, his piano skills quietly flourished, although he paused AMEB exams after Grade 4. It wasn’t until he resumed piano studies at Excelsia College in 2019 that he recognised the piano as the pathway to his musical future.

 

Matthew has selected the famous Piano Concerto no. 2 of Rachmaninov, one of the most popular and most frequently performed piano concertos of all time. Oddly, after a disastrous premiere of his first symphony, Rachmaninov laid low for three years, not daring to compose but finally he put pen to paper and this concerto was the result, receiving glowing praise at its first performance in Moscow. One critic wrote “This work contains much poetry, beauty, warmth and buoyant creative power.”

 

Kaito Deed - Tchaikovsky/Violin Concerto in D major

 

Kaito is a 16 year old Year 11 student at Gosford High School. He started learning the violin at age 4 and has been studying under Karina Hollands since he was 8 years old.

 

He is currently the concertmaster of the Central Coast Youth Orchestra and the NSW Regional Youth Orchestra under the baton of Patrick Brennan. Kaito was the winner of the Allen Family Scholarship in 2022, the Pearl Beach Senior Scholarship and the People’s Choice Award in 2023.

 

Kaito is performing the first movement of the Violin Concerto by Tchaikovsky, written in 1878 and well secured in its place as a favourite among soloists. Filled with romantic melodies and tender lyricism this concert was composed just after Tchaikovsky’s doomed marriage and allowed him to confront this emotional turmoil and ‘reset’, while on holiday in Italy and Switzerland.