Review: LearnMusicNZ Rotorua Branch Scholarship a triumph

(From left) Liz Tamblyn - third place, Hannah Seo - first place, and Veronica Chen - second place with adjudicator Justin Bird. Photo / Margaret Stokes

Review

What: 32nd annual Senior Scholarship
Where: Ascot Room, Rydges Hotel
When: Saturday, August 31

The 32nd annual Senior Scholarship run by local music teachers on Saturday was a huge success.

The adjudicator, Justin Bird from Auckland, complimented the committee on their organisation of the event, which "ran like clockwork".

Bird said he had judged eight competitions throughout New Zealand this year and this one was the best organised, showing months of preparation by the Rotorua branch committee, the contestants and their supportive parents and teachers.

The contestants (all female) presented balanced programmes and wowed the sizeable audience with their technique and ability to convey the moods of various periods of time.

Throughout the daytime trials nine contestants performed programmes of music including the Baroque composers Bach and Handel, classical composers Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, romantic composers Brahms, Chopin and Debussy and a huge variety of modern, such as Bartok, Schytte and Milne.

Bird was impressed with the high quality of performances by all the contestants.

He said first place Hannah Seo's Debussy was controlled and expressive, showing the ability she had gained by learning a variety of instruments and second place Veronica Chen's Milne showed her ability to play accomplished jazz with its changes in tempo and mood.

The Rotorua Branch LearnMusicNZ now has the job of beginning preparations for next year's event which will also be held at Rydges.

Results:

* Hannah Seo (piano), teacher Adrienne Hall, first place ($1000) and The Chou Best Piano Solo Award ($150) for La Plus Que Lente by Debussy.
* Veronica Chen (piano), teacher Annamarie Harris, second place ($500) and ANZCA Best 20th/21st Century Solo ($120) for Wild Mushrooms by Milne.
* Liz Tamblyn (piano), teacher Kathryn Lauder, third place ($300) and Best Presentation Cup.
* Grace McCarthy-Sinclair (vocal), teacher Claire Mason, Finalist ($100)
* Hannah Seo (recorder), teacher Adrienne Hall, Finalist ($100)
* Daniella Tuhairwe (piano), teacher Kathryn Lauder, Finalist ($100)