MEDIA RELEASE
21 October 2009
TWO CON PERFORMERS IN THE RUNNING FOR NATIONAL AWARD
Two of the three musicians vying for the title of Australia’s best young performer are from The Con.
Violinist Ji Won Kim, 24, and Oboist David Papp, 24, each won through three rounds of specialist
competition to gain a place in the grand final of the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of
the Year Award, which will be decided tomorrow night in Adelaide.
The competition, now in its 66th year, is acknowledged as the nation’s most prestigious individual
musical award. It has been the launch-pad for many successful music careers, including Simon
Tedeschi, Roger Woodward, Adele Anthony, Diana Doherty and Ian Munro.
Kim, from Kingsford, will play Sibelius’s Violin Concerto and Papp, from North Sydney, will play
Martinu’s Oboe Concerto. It is the second year in a row that Kim has been a finalist in the strings
section of the competition.
They will be accompanied by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of James Judd,
at the Festival Theatre.
Kim is studying at The Con under Associate Professor Alice Waten, who is considered one of
Australia’s pre-eminent international music teachers, having taught at distinguished institutions
around the globe and mentored dozens of successful Australian artists in a 36 year career.
A graduate with high distinctions from the Vienna Hochschule and the University of Melbourne, Kim
earlier this year won The Con’s Student Concerto Competition and performed Mozart’s D major
K218 with the Sydney Conservatorium Orchestra in September under the baton of Maestro Imre
Palló.
Papp completed a Bachelor of Music, Performance from The Con in 2008, having attained top marks
in both oboe and piano at the Conservatorium High School in 2001 aged 17.
Papp, a winner of the Sydney Symphony Fellowship and a recent appointment to the position of 2nd
Oboe with the Sydney Symphony, last year performed with The Con Orchestra at the pre-Beijing
Olympic Games festival called Musicathalon.
“We are extremely proud of Ji Won and David. Making it through to the last three of this
distinguished competition is truly a wonderful achievement,” said Dean and Principal of The Con,
Professor Kim Walker.
“They are both amazing talents and this opportunity to perform at the pinnacle of this competition is
a tribute to their hard work, dedication and passion for music.”
The third grand finalist is Bo An Lu, 15, from Perth, who will play Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1.
The concert will be broadcast live on ABC Classic FM and feature on ABC 1’s Sunday Arts program
next month.
Media inquiries to Scott Saunders, SCM, 93511298 or Graham Cassidy, Cato Counsel,
0419 202317
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