RAY CHEN (Winner)
Ray was born in Taipei and grew up in Brisbane. At age 4 he began learning the violin in the Suzuki method. He made his concert debut at age 8 with the then Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra.

Following his success in the Kendall and Australian National Youth Concerto Competitions at the age of 15, Ray was accepted into the Curtis Institute  of Music.

Towards the end of his third year at Curtis, Ray won the 2008 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for young violinists. This was followed by wins in the 2008-09 Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York and then in the 2009 prestigious Queen Elizabeth Violin Competition in Belgium.

These impressive successes have resulted in contracts; recordings; the loan of not one, but two Stradivarius violins and numerous concert engagements in hallowed musical venues throughout the world. At last count, Ray had bookings for more than 50 international recitals, including a performance of Mozart Concerto no.4 with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra on 6 November 2010 and four performances of Mendelssohn with Peter Oundjian and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra between 8-14 February 2011 (dates to be confirmed).

To keep abreast of Ray's fast-moving career and to sample a little of his playing, visit name http://www.yca.org and search his
January 2010

JANET ANDERSON
Janet graduated in 2005 with 1st class Honours from Bachelor of Music in Advanced Performance at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music where she studied with Michele Walsh. Janet was a member of the Fyra String Quartet which competed in the finals of 2005 National Chamber Music Competition and featured on the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Australian Festival of Chamber Music tours with didgeridoo player William Barton, premiering works by Sculthorpe, Edwards and Hindson.

Following her award for the Best Performance of an Australian Work at the finals of the 2005 Kendall Violin Competition, Janet continued her studies in Munich, Germany at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater with Professor Gottfried Schneider. In 2006 Janet was awarded the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University Postgraduate Award.

Since 2007 Janet has been working full-time with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and is also playing with the Adelaide Chamber Players.She will play with the ACO as a casual player for their fourth 2009 Australian Subscription Tour. Her Adelaide-based string quartet, the Leonore String Quartet,will compete in July in the Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition in Melbourne, and she is an Australian Chamber Orchestra Emerging Artist for 2009
June 2009

JENNEN NGIAU-KENG
See 2006

XI MAY ZHEN
Born in Sydney in 1992, Xi May Zhen began to learn violin at the age of five. She passed LMusA with distinction in 2002, and 6th grade musicianship with honours the following year. In 2003 (aged 11) she was the youngest semi-finalist selected among 186 competitors from 29 countries to compete at the Menuhin International Violin Competition 2004 in London.

In 2005, at the age of 13, she was a finalist in the String Category of the ABC Young Performers Awards and the Kendall National Violin Competition. In the same year she won First Prize (Gold Medal) in the 2005 International Violin Competition in Germany and was a finalist in the Tchaikovsky International Competition. She was also a finalist in the National Youth Concerto competition (2004,05 & 06)

Xi May's solo performances include the NSW School Spectacular, the Premier's Gala Concert, NSW Public Schools Choral Concert, International Boat Show concert and Christmas Eve concerts at Olympic Park and Darling Harbour. In 2006 she was invited to Japan to perform Mozart's A major concerto in the concert celebrating Mozart's 250th anniversary. She has appeared as soloist with Udmurt Orchestra (Japan, 2006), Melbourne String Ensemble (2006), Queensland Youth symphony (2004, 2005 and 2006)Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra (2005), SBS Youth Orchestra (2004), Sydney Concert Orchestra (2004), East West Philharmonic Orchestra (2001) and NSW State Schools' Orchestra (2001).
September 2006