Czechpoint win top music title

8 August 2005

Czechpoint win top music title

Auckland chamber music group Czechpoint won the New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest last night (Saturday 6 August). The National Final was held in the Auckland Town Hall with eight groups from Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch competing for awards and musical accolades.

Czechpoint said that winning the contest was like a dream coming true. “I always dreamed of doing something like this one day. To win was fantastic, I’d never have imagined that we would have won”, said Zoë Butters, member of Czechpoint.

Each member of Czechpoint received the Arthur Hilton Memorial prize of $400, plus a relevant musical text valued at $100.

Australian musician Paul Dean was part of the adjudication team and said that Czechpoint displayed technical skills beyond their years. “Czechpoint grabbed me from the first note and didn’t let me go till the applause. Their commitment and attention to detail belied their age,” said Paul.

A special highlight of the National Final was the performance of the winning Original Composition by Wellington student Karlo Margetic. This is the second year in a row that Karlo has won this prize. His winning composition, titled Chamber Concertino, was performed by The Senza Misura Ensemble from Wellington.

Also competing in last night’s contest were Arnó (King’s College & Northcote College), Sur Le Pont (St Cuthbert’s College), 4 Strauss (Westlake Girls’ High School) and Steinway & Strings (Rangitoto College and Westlake Girls’ High School), all from Auckland; Melodikus (Queen Margaret College, Rathkeale College, Wellington Girls’ College) from Wellington and Over Time Trio (Christ’s College) and Scena Mere (Burnside High School), both from Christchurch.

In presenting the New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest, Chamber Music New Zealand acknowledges funding from the New Zealand Community Trust and Creative New Zealand and support from SOUNZ (Centre for New Zealand Music).

For more information visit www.chambermusic.co.nz,

About Czechpoint

Czechpoint consists of students from Auckland Grammar School, King’s College and St Cuthbert’s College.

Natalie Lin, violin, St Cuthbert’s College* Jeremy Sheng, viola, Auckland Grammar School Edward King, cello, King’s College Zoë Butters, piano, St Cuthbert’s College

Czechpoint performed Piano Quartet in A minor Opus 1 – Allegro appassionato by composer Josef Suk.

“We came up with the word ‘Czech’ after the nationality of the composer that we were performing, and added ‘point’ to make it a little more interesting!” said Zoë Butters.

*Natalie Lin also performed in Sur Le Pont, a chamber music group from St Cuthbert’s College.

About the New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest

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.

A record number of groups entered this year’s New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest, attracting 562 entries from Whangarei to Southland, involving 2115 students. District Contests were held in fourteen centres nationwide throughout June, adjudicated by musicians Gretchen Dunsmore, Kenneth Young, Iaan and Sarah Wilson and Catherine McKay.

2005 NATIONAL FINALISTS

Groups that competed at last night’s National Final: In order of performance

4 Strauss (Auckland)

Jenny Lui, violin Somi Kim, piano Charlotte Featherston, viola Sarah Lee, cello

4 Strauss are all from Westlake Girls' High School and performed Richard Strauss's Piano Quartet in C minor Opus 13 Allegro.

Sur Le Pont (Auckland)

Natalie Lin, violin Sandra Hyde, violin Lizzie Tibbles, viola Zenith Chae, cello

Sur Le Pont are all from St Cuthbert’s College and performed Milhaud's String Quartet No 1 Intime and vif.

Scena Mere (Christchurch)

Polly Ott, voice Madeleine Cook, recorder Anna Maksymova, piano

Scena Mere are all from Burnside High School and performed William Alwyn's Seascapes Dawn at Sea, Sea-Mist, Song of the Drowned Man, Black Gulls.

Arnó (Auckland)

Shyam Sankaran, violin, King’s College Leo Shin, cello, King’s College Tian Tian Xu, piano, Northcote College

Arnó performed Babadjanian's Piano Trio in F sharp minor Largo - Allegro espressivo-maestoso.

Melodikus (Wellington)

James Pearson, flute, Rathkeale College Kelda Morris, violin, Wellington Girls’ College Lauren Simpkins, piano, Queen Margaret College Naomi Nguyen, piano, Queen Margaret College

Melodikus performed Benjamin Britten's Gemini Variations Theme, Eight Variations, and Fugue.

Steinway & Strings (Auckland)

Hanny Lee, violin, Rangitoto College Charlotte Featherston, viola, Westlake Girls’ High School Jessi Choi, cello, Rangitoto College Rose Cheng, piano, Rangitoto College

Performing Dvorak's Piano Quartet in E flat major Opus 87 Allegro con fuoco.

Over Time Trio (Christchurch)

Jun Yoon, violin Chris Park, cello Jeremy Woodside, piano

Over Time Trio are all from Christ’s College, performing Debussy's Piano Trio Scherzo, Finale

Czechpoint (Auckland) Natalie Lin, violin, St Cuthbert’s College Jeremy Sheng, viola, Auckland Grammar School Edward King, cello, Kings College Zoë Butters, piano, St Cuthbert’s College

Performing Suk's Piano Quartet in A minor Opus 1 Allegro Appassionato.

The National Finalists were followed by a performance of the winning Original Composition section by The Senza Misura Ensemble of Hutt Valley High School, Wellington. They performed Karlo Margetic's Chamber Concertino.

For more information: http://www.chambermusic.co.nz/music-contest

About Chamber Music New Zealand

Chamber Music New Zealand presents local and international chamber music ensembles throughout New Zealand. Its annual Celebrity Season showcases premier international artists, while the Associate Societies programme focuses on New Zealand performers. The New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, fosters the musical stars of the future.

An excellent line up of international and New Zealand artists have been secured for the 2006 Celebrity Season and the organisation is currently working on some exciting initiatives for future seasons.

The 2006 Celebrity Season will be launched on 30 September 2005.

ENDS

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