Congratulations to our Central Coast Conservatorium students who have performed with selected high-school musicians from around Australia and NSW on recent projects with the Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO), NSW Regional Youth Orchestra and Sydney Children’s Choir, showcasing the extraordinary talent of young musicians from across the region.
Principal flute Elana Sydenham and trombone player Anya Sandeman joined AYO Young Symphonists for a show-stopping Easter Saturday performance at Snow Concert Hall in Canberra.
Under the expert guidance of Dr. Luke Dollman, the Young Symphonists lit up the stage with Jessica Wells’s Uplift, dazzled with Ann Carr-Boyd’s Look at the Stars, waltzed through Strauss’s Blue Danube, and brought every vivid scene of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibitionto life.
The week also included personal development sessions, featuring workshops on managing performance pressure, the physicality of performing, and careers in music. Additionally, the musicians explored a diverse range of chamber music, with many performing this repertoire for the first time.
During the Easter holidays, seven Central Coast Con students and alumni joined NSW Regional Youth Orchestra in Sydney for a week of intensive rehearsals, workshops and a final performance at Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, led by Con Artistic Director Patrick Brennan.
The musicians were Emma Deed (flute), Dana Hamilton (bassoon), Jacob Smart (French horn), Claire Berecry-Brown (violin), Jasmine Bridgland (violin), Erhyn Bala (viola) and Kaito Deed (concertmaster). The musicians were joined by the Acacia Quartet for the week-long project which also saw the launch of Regional Youth Orchestra NSW 2025 season.
Viola player and vocalist Ehryn also joined Central Coast Con bassoonist and vocalist Anna McAweany on a project with Sydney Children’s Choir, recording When I Grow Up with Tim Minchin for the ABC’s Let’s Sing music education platform.
