Eight talented young Central Coast musicians will be vying for the region’s most prestigious music prizes at the 2025 Pearl Beach Scholarship Concert, which this year celebrates 20 Years.
The annual scholarship concert has been jointly sponsored by the Pearl Beach Progress Association and the Irvine Family since the inaugural concert held in May 2005. This year’s event, on Saturday 24 May at Pearl Beach Memorial Hall, is a showcase of Central Coast Conservatorium’s most promising students, incorporating the popular Pearl Beach Junior Showcase as well as performances from the Irvine Family Piano Scholarship recipients.
In the morning, junior students of the Conservatorium will perform a showcase concert, including performances by the Irvine Family Piano Scholarship recipients. In the afternoon, the Pearl Beach Scholarship Concert will once again search for the Coast’s best senior music students. The competition will feature advanced performances on a variety of instruments.
The senior finalists are: Emma Deed (flute), Anya Sandeman (trombone), Claire Berecry-Brown (violin), Minjy Lee (violin), Mitchell Frith (French horn), Amaya Farri (voice) and Grace Moura Atkins (piano).
“In conjunction with the Central Coast Conservatorium we offer performance opportunity to students who have excelled in their chosen field. This year the major music scholarship will be sponsored by the Russell Family Foundation who are proud supporters of the scholarship program,” said event organiser, Lynne Lillico.
Central Coast Conservatorium Artistic Director, Patrick Brennan, said the prestigious event is an “excellent opportunity for Conservatorium students to perform for their local community and deliver truly breathtaking performances”.
“The Central Coast Conservatorium is most grateful for the significant financial awards that are offered by members of the by members of the Pearl Beach community and the commitment by the Irvine Family to the winners of this important event. The prize money will help them further their musical studies at Central Coast Conservatorium.”
The Junior Showcase Concert was introduced in 2013 to celebrate solo instrument and vocal performance by the Central Coast Conservatorium junior students. “The showcase concert embraces the concept of ‘pure performance’ rather than ‘competitive performance’ and allows our younger musicians to perform with focus, passion and conviction,” said Patrick.
Winners of the last year’s Pearl Beach Scholarships will also perform during the concert, and there will be a special appearance from 2012 Pearl Beach Scholarship winner, flautist Alyse Faith.
Alyse has had an illustrious career was the winner of the Leslie Barklamb Flute Competition in 2018 and the winner of The Flutes in Tuscany Young Artist Award in 2019. She is a casual musician with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Opera Australia Orchestra, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic. She was a member of the MSO Academy in 2023. Alyse has appeared as guest principal flute with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Alyse holds a Master of Arts in Performance degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London.
EVENT DETAILS
- When: Saturday 24th May 2025
- Junior Showcase Concert, 11am
- Pearl Beach Scholarship Concert, 2.30pm
- Tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/pearl-beach-showcase-and-scholarship-concerts-2025
- Enquiries & cash booking: Phone 4344 2319
