Success sounds sweet for Hillcrest

Hillcrest High School has yet again come out on top at the district round of the National Chamber Music Competition.

Held on June 5, the school, located on Masters Ave, took out five of the seven possible placings in the annual contest.

The HHS Raysken Trio, comprised of Celia Griffiths on violin, Joo Eun Kim on cello, and Cynthia Lee on piano, won the competition for the second year running.

They will now compete in Auckland in the regional round, where the finalists will be decided.

Last year, the students’ winning streak lead them to the national final in Wellington. They were coached by concert cellist and Waikato University lecturer James Tennant.

Hillcrest was also awarded three of the four highly commended awards, nabbed up by Lamoral Quartet - Brodie Maxwell, Belinda Yang, Cynthia Lee and Shiuh Tzer Pang; Dohnanyi Trio - Shona Shin, Joo Eun Kim and Wesley Wu; and Il’yich Trio - Ashley Tsai, Wesley Wu and Shiuh Tzer Pang.

The adjudicators prize also went to La Prochaine, comprising of Mathilda Griffiths, Harry Neil and Gabrielle Ou.

Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments.

The National Chamber Music Competition is the longest running youth music competition in New Zealand and is the only nationwide chamber music competition for young secondary school musicians.

From hundreds of ensembles nationwide, only 12 groups make it through to the finals.