Author: taittweets2013
Hoang Phan wins ABC Young Performer of the Year
The Young Performer of the Year for 2013 is Melbourne pianist Hoang Pham. The Tait Memorial Trust are delighted that Tait Awardees, Hoang and Stefan did so well in this prestigious competition. Congratulations to you both.
Stefan Cassomenos, Andrew Kawai and Hoang Pham all performed concertos in tonight’s grand final from the Melbourne Town Hall, accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
For the concerto round Hoang performed Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1.
“I love Tchaikovsky and throughout competition I chose music I love,” he said shortly after performing.
“It’s always a thrill to play in with a symphony orchestra, especially in your home town.”
Hoang says he suffers from “extreme nerves” before performing but he accepts that it’s part of the job.
“It’s gotten easier over the years but not that much easier,” he laughs.
In his acceptance speech Hoang recounted first entering YPA in 2004 and not making the first round. His teacher told him that “time tells the truth about each musician,” and so he persisted.
He also thanked his girlfriend, former YPA winner and member of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Ji Won Kim.
Pianist Stefan Cassomenos performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No 3.
“I feel very much at home playing concertos with orchestras,” he said after his performance.
“It’s really great music, the way it’s written for orchestra and piano,” says Stefan. “Not all concertos are like that,” he laughs, continuing to explain. “Some are written for piano as the central feature with the orchestra in the background.”
Catch up on any performances you missed via the competitor bio pages
Young Performers Awards 2013 Prizes
Best Recital Prize ($5000) – Andrew Kawai
Best Chamber Music Performance Prize ($5000) – Hoang Pham.
Best Performance of an Australian Work Prize ($5000) – Grace Clifford
Concerto Finalist Prize ($7500) – Andrew Kawai, Stefan Cassomenos
Young Performer of the Year ($25k) goes to Hoang Pham
Pianist Hoang Pham, Young Performer of the Year, 2013. Photo by Lucas Dawson
Written by ABC Classic FM
http://www.abc.net.au/classic/content/2013/10/12/3867867.htm
Connor Barlow – 3rd Year, English National Ballet School
The Tait Memorial Trust are delighted to support Connor Barlow for the 3rd year of his studies at the English National Ballet School. We support two other dancers in 2013, Calvin Richardson and Sophie Moffatt both at the Royal Ballet School.
Connor Barlow started dancing at a local Sydney School at age six; taking classes in all forms of dance. His teachers encouraged him to view dance as a challenging and athletic activity, as well as a performing art.
- Connor Barlow, Ballet
Connor attended The McDonald College of Performing Arts and began his classical ballet training under the guidance of Ms Josephine Jason and Mr Alan Cross in 2007. Later he joined the Australian International Ballet Academy and the Premier State Ballet, where he performed the lead role of ‘Basilio’ in their 2010 Production of Don Quixote.
In March 2011 Connor travelled to Europe to audition for several prestigious ballet schools and was accepted into the 3 Year ‘Diploma of Professional Dance’ at the English National Ballet School (ENBS), in London.
Since September 2011 Connor has been tutored by a number of renowned international ballet tutors under the direction of Samira Saidi. Some of the most significant tutors that has Connor has worked with include, Chris Wright, Ivan Dinev, Cynthia Harvey, Yohei Sasaki, David Wall and Alain Dubreuil.
With the English National Ballet School, Connor performed the lead in Kenneth MacMillan’s ‘Soiree Musicales’ and in Frederick Ashton’s Les Rendezvous and several original works by Nuno Campos and Stina Quagebeur.
In June 2013 Connor travelled to Fiori in Italy to represent the ENBS at the Dance Gala at the historic Treatro Alessandro Bonci in Cesena, performing the ‘Grand Pas Classique’.
When he is not dancing, Connor loves to surf with this Dad at Cronulla Beach in Sydney or read a good book.
Connor’s aim is to become a professional ballet dancer and / or choreographer, with a leading international ballet company.
We, at the Tait Memorial Trust, wish Connor well and hope the support that we have provided these past three years will make the journey to a professional career that much more easier.
Connor’s award is kindly provided by the Thornton foundation.
ABC Young Performers Award 2013
Delighted to report the great success of two of our Awardees in the ABC Young Performers Award 2013. The 12 finalists have now been reduced to 6 overnight after outstanding performances from everyone. Two of the remaining finalists on piano are Stefan Cassomenos and Hoang Phan.
Stefan has performed for the TMT in London at 49 Queen’s Gate Terrace and for the TPAA at the Savage Club twice and Hoang has also performed as part of the Melbourne Piano Trio and was awarded our prize last year when he studied at the Royal College of Music in London.
The next round is Chamber Music & will take place on Wednesday 9th October at the Iwaki Auditorium and Stefan or Hoang will then proceed to the final which takes place on Saturday evening 12th October at 7pm with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and recorded on ABC FM.
The prize money for this year is:
Best Recital Prize – $5,000
Best Chamber Music Performance Prize – $5,000
People’s Choice Prize – $5,000
Best Performance of an Australian Work Prize – $5,000
Concerto Finalist Prize x 2 (runners-up) – $7,500
Young Performer of the Year – $25,000
After two days and four concerts to hear each competitor play a recital program, the following six have been chosen to go through to the next round.
Concert 1
1pm, Wednesday 9 October, Iwaki Auditorium
Grace Clifford (violin) performing the Brahms Piano Trio in C minor Op 101
Andrew Kawai (oboe) performing the Mozart Oboe Quartet in F K 370
Stefan Cassomenos (piano) performing the Mendelssohn Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 49
Concert 2
7pm, Wednesday 9 October, Iwaki Auditorium
Harry Ward (violin) performing the Brahms Piano Trio in C minor Op 101
Hoang Pham (piano) performing the Mendelssohn Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 49
Jonathon Ramsay (euphonium) performing the Brahms Horn Trio Op 40
The adjudicators are Ian Munro, Barbara Jane Gilby, Catherine McCorkill and chair of the panel is Huw Humphreys. Both of these concerts will be broadcast live on ABC Classic FM. Tickets are free and available at the door an hour prior to each concert.
Catch up on recitals from round one via the individual competitor, or listen to the entire concerts for Day 1and Day 2.
You can read about the performers and follow their progress on the website: http://symphonyinternational.net.
We wish both of them Toi Toi Toi!!!
Stop Press – Tait Winter Prom Raffle and Online Sales
This year’s prize is a long weekend stay (Thursday to Monday between December ’13- May ’14) in The Fiougiere, a charming country house in Provence near the village of Correns. The house sleeps six, has a swimming pool, plenty of small ‘basins’ to paddle in and a river running through the property, great for walks and picnicsetc… Tickets are £20 and can be purchased online before the concert. For details please see below.
Online sales
For the first time you can purchase your Tait Concert and Raffle tickets online with ticketsource.co.uk
http://taitmemorialtrust.ticketsource.co.uk/events
JustGiving 
Please donate to the important work of the TMT online http://www.justgiving.com/TaitMemorialTrust
We have also created a JustGiving page for the John Amis Award http://www.justgiving.com/John-Amis
For more information please go to https://www.taitmemorialtrust.org
Tait Memorial Trust. Regd. Charity 1042797
Ruthless Jabiru to play at the Union Chapel. October 14. Maralinga with Lara St John
A message from Kelly Lovelady
I very much hope you’ll be free to join me for my next performance on Monday 14 October at the Union Chapel in Islington. I will be conducting my orchestra Ruthless Jabiru and internationally-acclaimed violinist Lara St. John in a London tribute to Maralinga.
I hope our concert will raise awareness of the injustice that has happened at Maralinga over the years. I’m working to create as much dialogue around the event as I can on Facebook and Twitter so I hope you’ll consider sharing details of the concert with friends and family. You can also show your support and+Follow our blog to receive updates by email.
Advance tickets can be bought through the Buy Now link on our website. I’m also selling groups of 20 and 50 tickets at a reduced price, please contact me to take up this offer for your organisation. It would be a pleasure to welcome you to the Union Chapel on 14 October.
Lara St. John violin
Kelly Lovelady conductor
London’s all-Australian chamber orchestra, Ruthless Jabiru, and guest artist Lara St. John perform a concert tribute to the complex history of the Maralinga land in remote South Australia. Maralinga was chosen as a site for undercover British nuclear testing in the 1950s and 60s, leaving the area heavy with radioactive waste and thousands of Indigenous people and servicemen affected, both British and Australian. A musical programme by Matthew Hindson, Paul Stanhope, Linda Buckley, Arvo Pärt and Samuel Barber evokes the loss and the chemical strangeness which has become integral to the Maralinga landscape.
Monday 14 October, 7:30pm
Union Chapel, Islington N1, entrance on Upper Street
Tickets £16 advance / £18 door
Tait Winter Prom 2013
We have added a link to purchase tickets online via ticketsource.
“Fear in a handful of dust”: the legacy of Maralinga
We are sharing this post because we believe that Ruthless Jabiru are performing a work which has great significance to us all. The article written by Dr Liz Tynan is beautifully written and captures the madness of the time.
Ruthless Jabiru and Lara St. John perform Maralinga Lament at the Union Chapel, London at 19:30 on 14 October.
Tickets are £16 advance from the Union Chapel online store or £18 at the door.