Middle College Solo Music Finals

After a series of auditions, twelve of the most accomplished Middle College musicians were selected to perform before a judge on Friday night, at the annual Middle College Solo Music Competition – and the competition was stiff! Guest adjudicator, Dr David Lines, Associate Professor of Music at the University of Auckland School of Music, had the unenviable task of picking the winners. His years of experience did not make judging task any easier!

Each of the 12 finalists gave a fantastic performance for which they can all be proud – as were their families! A winner was selected from each of the four sections – string, wind, voice, piano – with one chosen as the overall winner.

This year, Year 10 student, Melody Lui-Webster won the voice section with her performance of ‘OnMy Own’ from the musical, ‘Les Miserables.’ Melody was also chosen as the Overall Winner. What set Melody apart?  The ability to connect with the audience. In summing up, Professor Lines said that Melody captured the mood of the piece, giving an emotional delivery.

Emma Ying on the harp and Ian Chiao on the violin were joint winners of the string section with Sunny Le winning the piano section and Mia Li the clarinet section.

Well done to all our finalists and in particular to our winners for their fine musicianship.

MIDDLE COLLEGE SOLO MUSIC FINALISTS

Strings:
Emma Ying – Harp          Impromptu Caprice, Gabriel Pierne
Ian Chiao – Violin          Caprice No. 24, Niccolo Paganini
Brendon Tsoi – Cello     Cello Sonata No. 13, Movement III, Sergei Rachmaninoff

Piano:
Sunny Le                            La Campanella, Franz Liszt
Amy Prebble                     Rondo Capriccioso Opus 14, Felix Mendelssohn
Melody Zhuang               Silver Clouds Chasing The Moon, Wang Jianzhong

Wind:
Mia Li – Clarinet               I Got Rhythm, Paul Harvey after George Gershwin
Ethan Fung – Clarinet     The Funkmeister, James Rae
Jesse Wang – Clarinet    Prelude No. 1, Witold Lutoslawski

Voice:
Melody Lui-Webster       On My Own, Claude-Michel Schonberg
Chloe McGregor              Beauty And The Beast, Alan Menken
Janelle Huang                Castle On A Cloud, Claude-Michel Schonberg

JUDGE: DR DAVID LINES

Dr David Lines is Associate Professor of Music at the University of Auckland School of Music. He lectures in Music Education and has researched and taught a range of topics, including studio pedagogy, curriculum development in music, jazz education, improvisation pedagogy and early childhood music education. Dr Lines is a jazz pianist and is also an active performer.

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