Congratulations Grace Clifford

CONGRATULATIONS TO  OUR 2013 OPEN WINNER – Sydney violinist Grace Clifford.

This very talented young lady has received a scholarship to attend the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, USA commencing September 1. This astounding young violinist is taking this wonderful opportunity to attend one of the world’s most prestigious music institutions. Unfortunately, for us here in Townsville this means that she has had to forgo returning to perform with the Barrier Reef Orchestra in September this year. We wish to congratulate her and wish her all the best in the next step in her musical career. We look forward to following her career, and may yet have the opportunity to hear her perform in Townsville at some time in the future.

Fortunately, for us, with so many talented finalists, we were able to call on Melbourne pianist Stefan Cassomenos to fill the gap in the programme which had included Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Stefan was the runner-up in the Theme & Variations Gala Finals where he performed the difficult 3rd Piano Concerto of Serge Prokofiev. Stefan has agreed to perform the much-loved Concerto in A minor by Edvard Greig with his friend Mark Shiell conducting.  Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5 will make this a wonderfully romantic programme. Stefan was one of the three grand finalists of the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards where he performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the end of last year.