A 17-year-old violinist from Meriden School in Strathfield has won the 2026 Secondary Schools Concerto Competition held last Sunday afternoon at the Concourse, Chatswood.
Connie Liu impressed the adjudicators with her ‘extraordinary’ performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, accompanied by the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra (KPO). She was one of six super-talented finalists who had battled through heat and semi-final rounds to reach the prestigious event – competing for invaluable performance opportunities and rich cash prizes.
Hosted by ABC Classic FM presenter Vanessa Hughes, this year’s adjudicators were Australian internationals, violinist Dimity Hall (the Goldner Quartet) and SSO flautist Joshua Batty. The competition, open to secondary school pupils in years 7–12 at schools throughout NSW and the ACT, is in its 42nd year and again attracted the maximum of 100 entries.
Regarded as a stepping stone to national and international success, the competition has been held annually since 1984 and provides an invaluable performance opportunity for young musicians to showcase their talents as concert soloists accompanied by orchestra. The list of previous winners is a Who’s Who of famous Australian musicians including Amy Dickson, Natalie Chee, Alexander Gavrylyuk, Simon Tedeschi, Hyung Suk Bae and Anna da Silva Chen. Adjudicator Dimity Hall told the finalists: “You are so lucky to get this experience, to perform with an orchestra like this; it is just an incredible step up for you.”
Connie’s prizes included a $6000 cash prize, supported by Ku-ring-gai Council and North Shore Strings, performance opportunities with the KPO, as well as a handsome perpetual trophy donated to the school.
The KPO Players’ Award of $500 for outstanding work throughout the rehearsal period went to viola player Jaemin Yoo of Trinity Grammar who also won the new Dual Crescendo Award of $800 (from an anonymous donor) for outstanding potential.
The $1500 Barbara Cran Award (supported by Sydney String Centre) for best Junior went to 14yo violinist Christina Bhang of Abbotsleigh; and the $1500 Barbara Robinson Award (supported by the Violin Centre) for the outstanding senior was won by 16yo double bassist of the Conservatorium High School.
The other 2026 finalists were Kiara Morishita-Lee, 14 (Abbotsleigh) and Jeffrey Dong, 15 (Conservatorium High School).
Pictures attached (along with the full release) include Connie Liu in her finals-winning performance with the KPO and above left Christine Kay, Mayor of Ku-ring-gai council; Wendy Vardouniotis, President KPO; Connie Liu, overall winner 2026; Stephanie Rojas Raldes and Doug Cotterill from North Shore Strings.
Photos by New Point of View, Reza Bhageri.
