Fritzi Trio wins Musica Viva Australia’s Strike A Chord competition

Read more news stories here

The 2024 Strike A Chord competition concluded on 31 August at the Melbourne Recital Centre, Melbourne, Australia. It was established in 2020 by Musica Viva Australia as a national chamber music competition for Australian school students, with twelve groups selected from at least six territories or states for the final round.

The first prize of $5,000 was awarded to the Fritzi Trio from New South Wales and Victoria, the second prize of $4,000 to Take Six from Queensland, and the third prize of $2,500 to the JPMS Ensemble Animato from Queensland.

The Encouragement Award went to the Marryatville High School Baroque Ensemble from South Australia; the Monash Chamber Music Prize to the Comet Quartet from New South Wales; the Flinders Quartet Mentorship Prize to the Lumina Quartet from New South Wales; and the Firebird Trio Mentorship Prize to the Timli Trio from Queensland. The 3MBS prize was awarded to the Aneres Trio and the Kingussie Trio, both from Victoria.

The Fritzi Trio comprises violinist Hannah Tyrell, cellist Jamie Wallace, and pianist Vincent Zhu. The ensemble met through the Australian Youth Orchestra’s 2023 National Music Camp, and have continued to rehearse and perform together despite living in different states. All intend to pursue music at a tertiary level and hope to keep playing together throughout their professional careers.

In the first round, the Austa String Prize was awarded to the Comet Quartet, Found Quartet, Fabriqué Quartet, and the St. Aidan’s Anglican Girls School Senior String Quartet. The competition also offered an array of prizes for novice ensembles, different instrumental groupings, and mentions of highly commendable performances.

This year’s jury comprised Howard Penny, Vatche Jambazian, Tim White Oam, Caroline Henbest, with Wilma Smith as chair of the jury. The first round also included Alex Ranieri and Molly Kadarauch as jury members, with Eliza Shephard and Jonathan Békés serving on the jury for the Novice category.

‘Our team of expert jurors was completely blown away by the level of musicianship and technical prowess on display… Fritzi Trio emerged as our worthy first prize winners, performing with exciting rhythmic energy, mature warmth of sound and expressive lyricism,’ said Smith, who also serves as Musica Viva Australia’s artistic director of competitions.

‘The quality of these young artists is truly amazing. Chamber music has always been a great joy of my career and it’s heartwarming and exhilarating to see a new generation discover that joy. The future is bright in the hands of these wonderful musicians, and I have no doubt that many of them will grace our professional stages in years to come.’

Playing

In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.

Teaching

The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.

Calendars

American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.