The six young finalists for the 2024 NSW Secondary Schools Concerto Competition have been announced.

Performing alongside the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra (KPO), four senior and two junior competitors will vie for opportunities and cash prizes of up to $10,000 at the Concourse in Chatswood on 30 June.

Jamie Wallace, Lara Dowdeswell, Sebastian Rowe, Teresa Yang, Cloris Xu and Jiashan Wang. Photos supplied.

In the Junior division, Jiashan Wang will perform Mendelssohn’s first Piano Concerto and Cloris Xu will perform Kalliwoda’s Oboe Concertino.

In the Senior division, Lara Dowdeswell will perform Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor, Sebastian Rowe will perform Wilby’s Concerto for Euphonium, Jamie Wallace will perform Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor and violinist Teresa Yang will play Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 2.

The competition’s overall winner will receive $5,000 and an engagement with the KPO in 2025. Other prizes include the $1,000 Barbara Cran Award, the $1,000 Barbara Robinson Award and the $500 KPO Award for the best performer during rehearsals. All finalists are awarded a $250 cash prize.

This year’s adjudicators are violinist Madeleine Easton and pianist Simon Tedeschi – a previous winner of the competition.

“With only six available places in the final, it is not an exaggeration to say that there could have been at least twice that number chosen without any drop in quality,” said Paul Terracini, KPO Artistic Director and Conductor.

“This prestigious competition continues to go from strength to strength.”

2024 marks the 40th year of the Concerto Competition. The competition is open to secondary school students in both NSW and Canberra. Past winners include Anna da Silva Chen, Natalie Chee and Grace Clifford. The 2023 competition was won by violist Hayley Lau.

The 2017 winner of the Concerto Competition, pianist Leanne Jin, will also perform two Chopin works at the competition. In 2023, Jin was awarded a place in the Sydney International Piano Competition.

More about the 2024 NSW Secondary Schools Concerto Competition finals can be found here.