Central Coast Conservatorium senior students flautist Elana Sydenham, guitarist Jerome Drobot, singer Mia Cross and violinist Minjy Lee have won top prizes at the Pearl Beach Senior Scholarship Finals.
Eighteen junior and senior students were selected to take part in the annual Pearl Beach Junior Showcase and Senior Scholarship Concerts at Pearl Beach Memorial Hall on Saturday, May 25, organised by Pearl Beach Progress Association and the Irvine Family.
Held in partnership with the Central Coast Conservatorium of Music, the annual concerts have been running since 2005, offering performance opportunities to students who have excelled in their chosen fields.
The day included a Junior Showcase concert in the morning, with outstanding solo performances from 10 students, including the joint winners of the 2024 Irvine Family Piano Scholarship – Caleb Hechter Saturno and Emily Robertson.
In the afternoon, eight seniors vied for the top prizes in the Pearl Beach Scholarship Finals.
Central Coast Grammar Year 11 student Elana Sydenham was awarded the top prize, the $1,000 Pearl Beach Senior Scholarship sponsored by Pearly’s Cafe.
In her summing up, adjudicator Erin Sweetman thanked members of the Pearl Beach community and the Irvine Family for their generosity in supporting the annual event.
She praised Elana – who was 2023 Pearl Beach Scholarship People’s Choice – for her stylistic interpretation of the two chosen works, Theodore Verhey’s Flute Concerto No 1 in D Minor and two movements of Ross Edward’s Nura – and for her “absolute command of the stage” and engagement with the music.
Year 12 Kincumber High School student Jerome Drobot won the $500 Pearl Beach Community Award with his electric guitar rendition of Armando’s Rhumba by Chick Corea (accompanied by his guitar teacher Guy Strazz), and Always With You Always with Me by Joe Satriani.
Vocalist Mia Cross was awarded the Peter Duke Rising Star Award of $500 for her performance of No-one Else from the musical Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet; and Astonishing from Little Women.
The Frances Grove People’s Choice Award of $500 – as voted by the audience – went to Year 12 Gosford High School student Minjy Lee who performed Winter from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Summertime and A Woman is a Sometime Thing from Porgy and Bess.
The finalists also included flautist Emma Deed, bassoonist Xavier Cardozo, trombonist Anya Sandeman and violinist Emma Berecry-Brown.
Junior performers included Tatiana Wang (violin), Emily Lalor (guitar), Vishoka Selvarajan (trumpet), Yaalini Selvarajan (flute), Monika Sydneham (saxophone), Jensen Hornsby (electric guitar), Mathias Way (piano) and Jo Jo Sandeman (violin).
Scholarship joint winners Emily Robertson and Caleb Hechter Saturno also performed solo pieces.
The students were accompanied by pianist and associate artists Liisa Munnukka and Gareth Szakos.
Szakos and last year’s Pearl Beach Scholarship winner, violinist Kaito Deed, also entertained the audience with special guest performances.