Talent runs in the family!
Introducing 16-year-old Theonie Satzuki Wang. Remember her name, because she’s destined for musical greatness after winning the prestigious Queensland Symphony Orchestra Young Instrumentalist Prize for 2020.
From a pool of 44 exceptionally talented musicians, six finalists were selected to perform before a panel of judges and an audience in the QSO Studio over the weekend, with Theonie emerging victorious. Images by Peter Wallis here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/d4qor664t67kqjd/AACbY8ZgSgj-hb3n5zKMoU9Wa?dl=0
The young violinist from Brisbane State High School began her musical journey at three years of age and achieved her LMusA with a distinction in 2018. Theonie joined the Queensland Youth Orchestras Junior String Ensemble at nine and as well as winning many awards, has also been accepted to play in the Australian Youth Orchestra National Music Camp and Young Symphonists in 2020.
Her goal for the future is to become a private teacher so that she can develop and mentor her students.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra Director of Artistic Planning Tim Matthies said the Young Instrumentalist Prize was testament to Queensland’s high-quality music education system.
“We welcomed nearly 50 applicants from across South East Queensland this year. The audition round and the final were both very competitive, with my fellow adjudicators and I deeply impressed with the young musicians’ technical and interpretative abilities,” he said.
“The final featured six diverse musicians on a variety of instruments, including snare drum, bassoon, and saxophone, alongside strings. We had a very difficult decision as the finalists all played at the very highest level, a reflection of the absolute wealth of talent here. Their future, and Queensland’s music-making future, is assured.”
“Theonie Satzuki Wang was a very deserving winner and the Orchestra looks forward to performing with her later this year. We will also provide mentoring opportunities with our visiting artists, including the internationally acclaimed, Brisbane-born violinist Ray Chen.”
Demonstrating that musical talent runs in the Wang family, Theonie’s older brother Guillaume was the 2013 winner of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Young Instrumentalist Prize and is this year’s winner of the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Croatia.
This year’s other finalists were:
- Joshua Jones, cello: Brisbane State High School
- Jennifer Lin, snare drum: Mansfield State High School
- Anna Suzuki, violin: All Saints Anglican School
- Andre Oberleuter, bassoon: Brisbane School of Distance Education
- Johanna Ide, saxo
