Tasmanian-born Nazarova dazzles with Shostakovich.

Tasmanian-born Katerina Nazarova has been named the 2012 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year, after a stunning Grand Final victory at the Perth Concert Hall.

Kate Lidbetter, CEO of Symphony Services International, said the level of performance presented was outstanding. “It was an utterly compelling concert with three highly accomplished young musicians showing the brilliance of musical talent that Australia produces.”

Nazarova wowed judges with her reading of the Shostakovich Violin Concerto No 1, performed with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra under conductor Vladimir Verbitsky. As winner, she takes home $20,000 in cash (and a feature interview in Limelight’s Rising Star section in the December issue). She has already been awarded the Nelly Apt Scholarship to study in Israel.

Learning to play the violin and piano from her mother at a very early age, Nazarova is no stranger to the concert platform. At age 11, her debut with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra was broadcast nationally on ABC television. A graduate of the Royal College of Music in London, she performs regularly with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Hallé and the Philharmonia Orchestra on stages around Europe.

Past victories for Nazarova include the Royal College of...