ANNA DA SILVA CHEN

Anna is a 14-year-old, Year 9 student at Sydney Distance Education High School and a full scholarship student in the Open Academy Rising Stars program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, studying under Robin Wilson. Anna has already gained her Associate and Licentiate diplomas, both with distinction.

In June 2011 Anna was a finalist in the string section of the ABC Young Performer of the Year Awards, performing as soloist with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. In 2010 Anna was the winner of the 35th National Youth Concerto Competition in Brisbane. She also won the Junior section of the NSW Secondary Schools Ku-ring-gai Concerto Competition and was awarded First Prize in the prestigious Alf & Pearl Pollard Memorial Awards for Performance Excellence and First Prize in the Open Age section at the Sydney Eisteddfod. In the past few years, Anna has won numerous prizes including nine Firsts at the Wollongong Eisteddfod (twice in the open age sections) and five Firsts at the St George Eisteddfod, including the Junior and Senior Championships.           

At the age of 10, Anna gave a solo recital in Viva La Gong and represented the Wollongong Conservatorium as a soloist to play in front of distinguished guests, such as the NSW Governor Prof. Maria Bashir and General Peter Cosgrove at Parliament House. She has also performed in the Art Gallery of NSW Sunday concerts and appeared as a soloist at the Wollongong Eisteddfod Showcase of Talent in 2007 and 2009. She made her solo orchestral debut with the Beecroft Symphony Orchestra in 2009. Anna recently gave a sold out recital for the Geringong Music Club and recorded a recital program for 2MBS-FM as a semifinalist in the 2011 Young Performers Award.

Anna also loves swimming, tennis, reading, sleeping and drawing.

Since winning the 2011 KNVC, Anna has been selected to compete as a junior candidate at the Menuhin International Violin Competition to be held in Beijing in April 2012.

Anna won the State 2MBS-FM Young Performers Award in September 2011 and the MBS National Young Performers Award in November 2011.
January 2012

CINDY CHAU

Born in Sydney in 1995 Cindy Chau was five when she first began to play the violin. She currently attends MLC school Burwood as she has done for all her schooling life, where she has a full music scholarship. Since 2007 she has been fortunate enough to be studying under Robin Wilson and Charmian Gadd.

At 11 years of age Cindy was awarded her AMus, and at 13 her LMus with distinction. She has won many of her eisteddfod entries, the most notable being the Wenkart Foundation Junior Violin Award aged 12, and more recently the Marcus Edwards Prize. She has been placed previously as a semi-finalist in the ABC Young Performers Awards and the 2MBS-FM Young Performers Awards, which gave her the prestigious opportunity to be broadcast live for a 45 minute recital, and was named a finalist in the Ku-Ring-Gai Philharmonic Orchestras’ Concerto Competition, with whom she performed the first movement of the Sibelius Violin Concerto.

Aside from playing the violin Cindy’s other passions include literature of the pre 20th-centuries, and studying physics.

MONIQUE LAPINS

Monique is originally from Australia where her previous teachers included William Hennessy, James Cuddeford and Nicholas Milton. She has performed in masterclasses and lessons with James Ehnes, Midori Goto, Christian Tetzlaff, Boris Kuschnir, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Dr. Felix Andrievsky, Janis Laurs, Natsuko Yoshimoto, Keith Crellin.

She has been concertmaster of numerous chamber and orchestral ensembles including the Australian Youth Orchestra Young Symphonists, Adelaide Sinfonia, Adelaide Youth Orchestra, Elder Chamber Orchestra and the Elder Conservatorium Orchestra and plays as a freelance violinist with the Australian and Melbourne Chamber Orchestra as well as the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

As a chamber musician, she founded and managed the Moonlight String Quartet and held the role of first violinist. She has participated in the Australian Festival of Chamber Music and performed in Recitals Australia Lunch Hour Concerts.

Monique has been the recipient of numerous music awards including the Beryl Kimber Bach Prize, the Eisteddfod String Concerto Competition, the Elder Conservatorium Junior Violin Concerto and has been awarded the Young Composers Award ASME. In 2009, she performed with her piano trio Disco Vienna alongside cellist Thomas Marlin and pianist Yuh T'sun Wu in the Asia-Pacific Chamber Music Competition. In the same year, Monique performed in the Finals of the Academy Concerto Competition with Orchestra Victoria, conducted by Richard Mills. In 2010, she was awarded the position of an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra as part of their 2010 Education Program. Most recently, she won second prize at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concerto Competition Upper Strings Final held in November 2011 and has been invited by Steven Isserlis to participate in the 2012 IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music program of which he is director.

Monique is currently a second-year student of Qian Zhou. She plays on an 1883 Gand on loan from the Rin Collection.
January 2012

VICTORIA WONG

13 year-old Victoria Wong is a year 8 student at MLC School, Burwood where she is on full music scholarship.  Victoria started learning the violin and piano when she was 4 years old.  Throughout the years, she has performed in many gala and showcase concerts.  She has won numerous prizes in different eisteddfods and was awarded the “Most Promising Junior Performer” when she was 6. 

Victoria was honoured to receive the first “Harold Brissenden Memorial Fund” to study and perform in Japan and was chosen to participate in the Shanghai Conservatory exchange programme. 

Since 2006, Victoria has been studying with Professor Goetz Richter at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.  For the last 3 years, she has received a full scholarship to the Rising Star Programme of the Open Academy at the Conservatorium.  In 2009, Victoria was selected to broadcast at 2MBS-FM playing the Wieniawski concerto in d minor and Zigeunerweisen by Sarasate.      

Last year she was a finalist at the NSW Secondary Schools Concerto Competition.  At her school, Victoria is in the Chamber Orchestra and she has performed ensemble music in Music Awards nights and Opera House Concerts.  She also went on the music tour to Spain and performed a Bach solo and an Australian piece to the European audience. 

Besides music, Victoria also likes mathematics, drawing, reading and languages but her personal aspiration is “to become an outstanding violinist”.

Since competing in the KNVC Final, Victoria was invited to perform for the Alf and Pearl Pollard Memorial Award for performance excellence.  She also performed the Carmen Fantasy for the 2011 MLC music award night at the Sydney Town Hall.
January 2012