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Chamber Group Through to National Finals

August 03, 2020 at 12:23 PM

Congratulations to the Bartok Quartet Chamber Group members, Catherine Chang (Piano), Sunny Le (Piano), Elsdon Yong (Percussion) and Jason Wong (Percussion), who have been selected to compete at the National Chamber Music Finals in Wellington next weekend!

This year, for the first time in the 55 years of competition, all entries to the Chamber Music Contest were submitted via video due to Covid-19. With over 200 online videos for judges to view, the Auckland and Northern Regional rounds were judged over the course of July, with the Saint Kentigern group firstly selected from the Auckland competition to move on the regional round, before being selected for the national event. This is the second year in a row that a Saint Kentigern group has reached the national stages of the contest.

Our musicians worked hard after their return to school from lockdown, to catch up on lost group rehearsal time, to ensure they gave their best possible performance for the video recording of Bela Bartok’s ‘Sonata for Two Piano and Percussion’ at the end of Term 2. 

The Bartok Quartet has continued to put in daily practice over the last two weeks, working with music tutors to polish their performance. They are certainly excited by the prospect of performing at the Michael Fowler Centre in Wellington, home of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO)!

The NZSO Percussionist, Sam Rich is an Old Collegian. He also performed the Bartok piece while at school, although with members of other schools, and also reached the final rounds. Sam will be meeting our students in Wellington on Thursday night to give them a quick tour of NZSO behind the scenes before the students attend an NZSO evening concert where Sam will be playing.

The Saint Kentigern College Music Department dedicates itself to providing opportunities for our top musicians - often scholars and section leaders of the College ensembles. The Chamber Groups are formed across the age groups, with creative, challenging and enjoyable repertoire in mind, to extend our musicians beyond their individual and large ensemble work. 

We wish our Quartet the very best as they embark on their journey to Wellington and perform on the Michael Fowler Centre stage this week!

Listen to the Bartok Quartet perform their piece here.

For ticket information of the Wellington nationals, please visit: https://chambermusic.co.nz/contest#dates 

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