In the morning, the Junior (Grades 1 to 3) and Intermediate (Grades 4 & 5) entrants were put through their paces, and they performed like seasoned professionals.
Seven-year-old Baylor Zhou won first place in the Junior division, and pianist Ebbie Luke was placed first in the Intermediate section.
These two began the Evening Senior $1000 Finals Concert as guest artists.
This set the mood and had the audience excited to listen to the eight students, aged from 13 to 18, competing for a total of $2470 - and then to find out the results.
Maria Mo congratulated the four pianists, three vocalists, and one recorder player on their diligence in practising difficult pieces and songs.
She loved the variety of music that entertained and thrilled the audience, including works by Baroque composers Bach, Handel and Vivaldi, Classical composer Beethoven, Romantics Chopin and Mendelssohn, New Zealand composers Farr and Lilburn, and jazz music by Lane and Rose.
The vocalists performed items from the classical repertoire and folk songs. However, their talents came to the fore with musical theatre items.
The winner of the Senior Scholarship was pianist Veronica Chen. Her recital, all from memory, consisted of the 3rd movement from Sonata Op. 31 No. 2 by Beethoven, Nocturne Op. 32 No. 2 by Chopin, and The Horizon from Ōwhiro Bay by Farr. Veronica gave a mesmerising performance of all three pieces.
Pianist Lauren Smith gained second place and the Chou Best Piano Solo Award for Toccata No.5 in E minor by Bach, with a technically superb performance of all four movements of the varied contrapuntal piece.
Third place was awarded to pianist Sara Smith, who performed five contrasting pieces with grace, poise and style.
Finalist Hannah Seo performed three pieces on bass, tenor and treble recorders, and won Best 20th/21st Century Solo for her astounding rendition of the jazz piece Bass Burner by Rose.
Best Presentation Cup was awarded to vocalist Ranithu Rodrigo, who performed five songs, including If I Were a Rich Man from Fiddler on the Roof, complete with drama, dance and comedy.
The other finalist, vocalist Tate Tisdall, showed his versatility with five songs, including the emotionally-charged The Streets of Dublin and the comical Me Ol' Bam-Boo.
Because of the high standard displayed by all eight performers, two Encouragement Awards were presented to pianist Allan Huang and vocalist Lauren Thompson.
Full Results
SENIOR (Grades 6 to Diploma)
- 1st Prize ($1000) VERONICA CHEN (teacher Annamarie Harris) Piano
- 2nd Prize ($500) and Chou Best Piano Solo ($150) LAUREN SMITH (Hazel Hausman) Piano
- 3rd Prize ($300) SARA SMITH (H. Hausman) Piano
Best 20th/21st Century Solo ($120) HANNAH SEO (Adrienne Hall) Recorders
Best Presentation Cup RANITHU RODRIGO (Evelyn Falconer) Vocal
Finalists ($100 each) HANNAH SEO, RANITHU RODRIGO and TATE TISDALL (E. Falconer) Vocal
Encouragement Awards ($50 each) ALLAN HUANG (A. Hall) Piano and LAUREN THOMPSON (E. Falconer) Vocal
INTERMEDIATE (Grades 4 & 5) All Piano
- 1st Prize ($120) EBBIE LUKE (A. Hall)
- 2nd Prize ($60) GEGE ZHOU (Gael Thompson)
- 3rd Prize ($40) PURITY RIMAHA (G. Thompson)
JUNIOR (Grades 1 to 3) All Piano
- 1st Prize BAYLOR ZHOU (G. Thompson)
- 2nd Prize YANGYANG GAO (H. Hausman)
- 3rd Prize TARA AKURANGI (Claire Mason)
