Eight aspiring musicians will have the opportunity to further foster their talent thanks to the Penrith Conservatorium of Music.
The local musicians were recently awarded the Penrith Conservatorium of Music Scholarships for 2018, which recognises the future potential of conservatorium students, helping to put them on a pathway to a professional music career.
One of the recipients was nine-year-old Oliver Jin, the youngest musician to receive one of the prestigious scholarships since its inception.
“I practice every day just to improve my piano, so I feel very proud because this is the first time I’ve got a scholarship,” he said.
Taking up piano three years ago, Oliver has since participated in a number of concerts and is looking forward to further improving his passion.
“I like playing piano because it makes me feel relaxed and calm in my mind and body,” Oliver said.
“I hope this scholarship will give me a lot of tips on how to play piano well.”
Music Programmer and coordinator of the scholarship program at The Joan, Valda Silvy, said it was exciting to see the level of talent these young musicians had in the fields of voice, guitar, saxophone, violin and piano.
“The standard of applicants was tremendous and the candidates gave outstanding performances,” she said.
“It certainly made our job of choosing the seven recipients very difficult, but those selected are a wonderful group of young musicians with very exciting prospects for the future.”
Other recipients this year were Alexander Frendo (guitar), Victor Zhou (piano), Wellington Dulay (saxophone), Divinia Eather (voice), Layla Marinos (violin), Tom Masters (voice) and Dominic Hart (piano).
The scholarships are made possible due to the generosity of local donors and benefactors. More details about the program are on The Joan website.
Lauren Suttie
Lauren Suttie is the Weekender's General & Community News journalist.