The Felix Octet Win NZCT Chamber Music Final

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The Felix Octet Win NZCT Chamber Music Final

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The Felix Octet bet seven other groups in front of a capacity crowd to win the 42nd Chamber Music Contest final on Friday 27 July in the James Hay Theatre in Christchurch.

The Felix Octet comprises seven students from Burnside High School, Jung Wook Lee, violin, Emma Yoon, violin, Sean Daly, violin, Salina Fisher, violin, Lindsay McLay, viola, Jahun Lee, cello and Bryony Gibson-Cornish, viola from Rangi Ruru Girls' School.

They performed Octet in E flat op 20. by Mendelssohn to a delighted home town Christchurch crowd.

The adjudicators for the National Final were well known New Zealand musicians Deidre Irons (piano), Justine Cormack (violin), and Peter Scholes (clarinet) and were unanimous in their decision.

Each member of the Felix Octet received the James Wallace Arts Trust prize of $1000 each. In addition to this they also received the Arthur Hilton Memorial prize of a relevant musical text valued at $100. (Arthur Hilton is a former president of CMNZ who started the contest in 1965).

In 2007, 14 District Contests were held nationwide in June. 538 chamber music groups, featuring 2,033 students, battled it out for a place in the National Final. Eight groups were selected to compete in the National Final of the 2007 the groups were from Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin.

The 2007 winner of the Original Composition section was Corwin Newall from Kaikorai Valley College in Dunedin. Corwin was awarded the SOUNZ (Centre for New Zealand Music) prize of $500. His composition The Budgie was performed alongside competing groups at the National Final in Christchurch

Ellen Doyle became the inaugural winner of a new award recognising outstanding service and commitment to fostering the love of chamber music, The Marie Vandewart Memorial Award.

Ellen Doyle teaches and lives by the motto "music for life" she has been teacher and mentor to many of New Zealand's finest cellists and chamber musicians. In a career that spans over 45 years, Ellen has had 37 groups selected to compete in the national final with 10 of them winning the top honours.

The New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest is the longest running youth music competition in New Zealand and is the only national chamber music competition for young musicians and composers in the country. It is presented annually by Chamber Music New Zealand.

In presenting the New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest, Chamber Music New Zealand acknowledge funding from the New Zealand Community Trust, Creative New Zealand, The James Wallace Trust and SOUNZ.

ENDS.

Background information
The New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest fosters the musical stars of the future. It is New Zealand’s longest running music contest of its kind for secondary school students, and is organised by Chamber Music New Zealand.

There are two sections in the contest. The Instrumental Performance Section encourages secondary school students to form a group of 3-8 players and perform together. The Original Composition Section requires students to compose a work of their own, which must also be performed at the District Contests.

Past winners of the National Final have gone on to become professional musicians, including top New Zealand concert pianist Michael Houstoun and former NZSO concertmaster Wilma Smith (both of whom are touring for CMNZ in 2007)

The Marie Vandewart Memorial Award. Marie and husband Alfons Blaschke were made Life Members of CMNZ in 1993. Marie passed away in 2006, aged 94. Her family has established this memorial award in her honour.

Marie Vandewart arrived in Wellington, New Zealand as a refugee in 1939. She was a gifted cellist and had studied at the Berlin Hochschule before leaving Germany.

During the war, Marie was a member of the Dorothy Davies Trio (pictured - details below) and gave some of the earliest professional chamber music concerts in the country. Later she was a foundation member of the Alex Lindsay Orchestra and the Francis Rosner Quartet.

Her recordings include the first New Zealand performances of the Bach cello suites. In 1961, Marie moved to Auckland to teach cello at Auckland University. Generations of music students benefited from her expert tuition and enthusiasm for chamber music.

In 2004, CMNZ welcomed the New Zealand Community Trust on board as the new funder of the contest. The New Zealand Community Trust is a non-profit organisation established in 1998. The Trust distributes an excess of $40 million each year to cultural, sporting, educational, health and community groups throughout New Zealand.

ENDS

www.chambermusic.co.nz/music-contest

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