Sixteen year old Theonie Satzuki Wang is destined for musical greatness after winning the prestigious Queensland Symphony Orchestra Young Instrumentalist Prize for 2020.
From a pool of 44 exceptionally talented musicians, six finalists were selected to perform before a panel of judges and an audience in the QSO Studio, with Theonie emerging victorious. The young violinist from Brisbane State High School began her musical journey at three years of age and achieved her LMusA with a distinction in 2018. Theonie joined the Queensland Youth Orchestras Junior String Ensemble at nine and as well as winning many awards, has also been accepted to play in the Australian Youth Orchestra National Music Camp and Young Symphonists in 2020. Her goal for the future is to become a private teacher so that she can develop and mentor her students.
Queensland Symphony Orchestra Director of Artistic Planning Tim Matthies said the Young Instrumentalist Prize was testament to Queensland’s high quality music education system. “We welcomed nearly 50 applicants from across South East Queensland this year. The audition round and the final were both very competitive, with my fellow adjudicators and I deeply impressed with the young musicians’ technical and interpretative abilities,” he said.
“The final featured six diverse musicians on a variety of instruments, including snare drum, bassoon and saxophone, alongside strings. We had a very difficult decision as the finalists all played at the very highest level, a reflection of the absolute wealth of talent here. Their future, and Queensland’s music-making future, is assured,” Matthias said. “Theonie Satzuki Wang was a very deserving winner and the Orchestra looks forward to performing with her later this year. We will also provide mentoring opportunities with our visiting artists, including the internationally acclaimed, Brisbane born violinist Ray Chen.”
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