The art of chamber music requires performers to work in small ensembles, where each player is on an independent musical line. There is no conductor and in many cases no accompanist. The girls are required to communicate and work as a cohesive team through non-verbal cues and highly honed auditory skills. These performances were all the more special given that for many of these groups, it was their first performance of the year, and the excitement and significance of this was palpable.
The competitions were adjudicated by guests Mr Simon Hewett and Mr Timothy Sherlock, and I am thrilled to announce the 2020 winners and highly commended performers below:
Winners of the 2020 Gillies Instrumental Ensemble Competition
Piano Trio—Sophie Shan (11E), piano, Lilly Zhang (11W), violin, and Michelle Jeong (10W), cello
Highly Commended
String Quartet—Zara Hosking (8G), Anna Mikli (8H), Stephanie Bird (8H), and Kathryn Peterson (8O)
Trio—Holly Xu (7O), violin, Lisa Walsham (8R), clarinet, and E Lyn Won (7B), cello
String Quartet—Hannah Kim (12M), Mia Li (12R), Margot Marshall (12W), and Aravindi Gunawardena (12E)
String Quartet—Sophie Shan (11E), Eilish Chopra (11W), Caitlin Mikli (11H), and Samantha Atherton (11L)
Winners of the 2020 Gillies Vocal Ensemble Competition
Abigail Lui (12O), Erika Thompson (12W) and Annabelle Khoo (12W)
Highly Commended
Bryleigh Parsons-Pope (12B), Aravindi Gunawardena (12E) and Arabella Holley (12E)
Allison Ng (11H), Adelyne Ng (11H) and Samantha Atherton (11L)
Congratulations to all students for their hard work in preparing for and presenting this event, and thank you to our Instrumental Music staff for their mentoring throughout the year.
Mrs Emma Dron
Director of Instrumental Music
