Meet Our Finalists

The Aneres Piano Trio was founded at the start of 2023 by three talented musicians studying at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School. Aneres’ membership is composed of Serena Zhang on piano, Raistlin Chan on violin and Ethan Chiao on cello. 

Under the guidance of Josephine Vains and Sophie Rowell, this promising trio has won first place at the Boroondara Eisteddfod competition and also won several distinguished prizes at the Music Society of Victoria’s Chamber Music Competition. They perform throughout Melbourne, giving live recitals at venues such as the Scotts Church and enjoy playing regularly on 3MBS. 

Each string player in The Astra Octet has experience in playing chamber music, public solo performing, and many are competition prize winners. The motivation to perform this work by Bruch was for the inaugurations of Sydney Chamber Music Project under the artistic direction of Fox Chan and Joy Lee. After rehearsing with Fox Chan, the players became captivated by this work. The variety from the main themes to the intricacies of the moving inner parts developed the keen art of listening, decided leading, fast reactions and much individual practise. 

The Fritzi Trio consists of violinist Hannah Tyrrell, cellist Jamie Wallace and pianist Vincent Zhu. The group first met and became friends at the Australian Youth Orchestra’s National Music Camp in 2023. Despite the geographical challenge of living in different states, they have enjoyed getting together to rehearse and perform as a Piano Trio as often as their busy schedules allow.  All three are planning to pursue their musical studies at a Tertiary level and would like to continue to play Chamber Music together throughout their professional lives. 

We are The Frosty Shosty String Quartet, composed of Leonard Tang (Yr11, first violin), Kaito Deed (Yr12, second violin), Will Zhang (Yr7, viola), and Andy Lin (Yr11, cello). United by our shared passion for music and the opportunity to perform at Musica Viva Australia, our debut collaboration features Shostakovich’s poignant String Quartet No. 8. This transformative experience has strengthened our friendship and deepened our collective commitment to the artistry of chamber music. 

Friends since meeting at the J Percussion Music School in their childhood, Craig, Sarah, Vincent, Liam, Matty, Daniel and Tifa have grown closer over the years as they performed as soloists and in ensembles up and down the Australian East Coast.  2024 marks the first time they have been able to all work together in a chamber ensemble, and they are thrilled to celebrate this occasion with the Australian premiere of Emmanuel Sejourne’s Attraction 2 for percussion septet. Together, they hope to take audiences on a journey through the colourful and exotic percussion universe.  

The Kingussie Trio is a close-knit group of three friends who are music scholars at Camberwell Grammar. Their bond and passion for music have led them to outstanding achievements, including winning the 2024 Boroondara Eisteddfod’s Chamber Music section and securing second place at the Music Society of Victoria’s Open Chamber Competition. Each trio member is an AMEB Diplomate with a history of success at national and international competitions. Dillon Chan studies piano with Caroline Almonte and Michael Endres. Violinist David Chon studies with Christine Johnson and Gabriel Liu studies cello with David Berlin and Rachel Atkinson. The Kingussie musicians love large romantic piano trio repertoire and the chamber music of Julian Yu. 

The Sydney-based Lumina Quartet consists of violinists, Teresa Yang and Lara Dowdeswell, violist, Nerissa Du and cellist, Clara Moloney. Since the beginning of this year, Lumina has been playing together under the guidance of Janet Davies, through the Sydney Conservatorium’s Rising Stars Program, in which they are all scholarship students. As laureates of numerous major competitions and active participants of AYO and ACO programs, each Lumina member is an accomplished musician in her own right. Together, they have worked on unifying their sound and interpretation of Brahms’ challenging yet powerful String Quartet and hope to share their love for it with you today.

The Baroque Ensemble was originally formed in 2009 at Marryatville High School Special Interest Music Centre to develop student’s interest and passion for Baroque music, and to build awareness of Baroque performance practices.

Directed by Katrina Brown, the Baroque program has since grown to also include a Baroque Orchestra, allowing senior members to mentor younger students in Baroque techniques.

The Baroque Ensemble has participated in the Baroque Academy run by Adelaide Baroque at the Elder Conservatorium; attended several workshops led by leading exponents of Baroque, including Ben Dollman, Rob Nairn, Neale Peres da Costa, Daniel Yeadon and Davide Monti; and awarded the Innovation Award in Musica Viva’s Strike A Chord competition in 2021.

Syncopact is a percussion ensemble that runs as part of the ANU Community Music Centre Chamber Ensembles program. Led by percussionist and tutor, Veronica Bailey, students have the unique opportunity to step out from the back of the orchestra or school band and explore a wide variety of percussion repertoire in a small ensemble setting. The members of Syncopact attend different schools across Canberra, but they are brought together through this program, united by an interest in the rhythmic and sonic capabilities of percussion.  

Take Six is a concerted effort of string players from the University of Queensland’s Chamber Music Academy in 2024, all of whom are past and present finalists of the Strike A Chord competition. As individual players, members of the sextet were winners and finalists of state and national competitions, concerto soloists, scholarship recipients, and concertmasters and principal players of various orchestras. Take Six is mentored by Patrick Murphy, Anna Grinberg and Tim Li. 

Timli Trio was formed in 2023 as part of the University of Queensland’s Chamber Music Academy. Coached by Anna Grinberg, Patrick Murphy and Tim Li, the trio received the Most Outstanding Chamber Ensemble award in the 2023 Gold Coast Eisteddfod, and won 1st Prize in the Open Division of the inaugural Redlands Youth Chamber Music Festival. They have given performances in Customs House and Old Museum, and attended the Strike A Chord Winter Workshop in 2023.  

Trio Fantastique - violinist Uma Sky Fisher, cellist Ari Fisher, and pianist Jordan Scott - are a young piano trio from Western Australia. Since forming four years ago, they’ve won overall performance prizes for WAYACHAMP, North of Perth Festival, and other regional competitions. 2024 has been a particularly exciting year with the trio recording for Kawai Japan, also winning international competitions including World Classical Music Awards, Vienna Virtuoso Competition, and Golden Key Music Festival’s GOLD Award. The trio has recently returned from New York, where both Uma and Jordan turned 13, celebrating with performing at Carnegie Hall, a bucket list dream! They enjoy performing together very much as they are the best of friends.