On Friday 18 March, four St Bede’s students were lucky enough to watch the National Piano Concerto Competition Final in the Christchurch Town Hall. Three pianists, Henry Meng, aged 17, Madeleine Xiao also 17, and Yuzhang Wu aged 16, performed Concerti by Sergei Rachmaninoff (Henry and Yuzhang) and Frédéric Chopin (Madeleine). They were accompanied by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra - amongst whom sat one of our itinerant teachers, Ms Brizzell, and our Arts Coordinator, Ms Mowbray.

The grand prize for Yuzhang Wu who performed Rhapsody on a theme by Paganini, Op. 43 by Rachmaninoff was a whopping $10,000. Each player was awarded a monetary prize, but all of the pianists argued before the competition that playing with a symphony orchestra was a bigger reward than any amount of money.

Overall it was a very special night and incredible to see the talent of some of the best young pianists in New Zealand. 

- Simon Curnow (Year 12)