Piano contest finalists

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33753, 28 January 1975, Page 10

Piano contest finalists

DAVID GUERIN, aged 21, was educated at Wellington College and Victoria University, where he gained a bachelor of music and also pursued a B.Sc. in mathematics. He has been studying with Judith Clark, performance tutor at Victoria University, for seven years, has gained his L.T.C.L., and has had many successes in local competitions. These include the Beggs Scholarship, the “Evening Post” Scholarship, the Schweppes Piano Competition, and the Lower Hutt Piano Scholarship. He performs regularly in solo and chamber music concerts around Wellington. and has participated in the secondary schools’ chamber music contest. In 1973 he represented the Victoria University Music Society in concerts of twentieth-century music in Christchurch with the Canterbury University Music Society. During 1974 he was the pianist for the New Zealand Ballet Company, and this year he will study for an honours degree in piano performance, specialising in the works of Olivier Messiaen. Final February 8, Town Hall

DENIS KING, aged 15, was bom in Wellington, and is a student at Wellington College, having just sat School Certificate. He has been a pupil of Judith Clark for eight years, and has won numerous prizes in the Wellington and Lower Hutt competitions, among them the Charles Begg Scholarship. He has been awarded two bronze medals and a gold medal for Trinity College examinations, and has gained the practical requirements for A.T.C.L. (1973). On gaining Grade VIII for Royal Schools of Music in 1974 he was recommended for a scholarship to study overseas. He has been a finalist i twice in secondary schools’ i chamber music contests. In the last contest he played in a work specially written for his group by David Farquhar, called “Inside Out.” He is a local artist for the N.Z.8.C., and often performs duets with his sister, Evelyn. He plans to continue his studies at Wellington College another two years.

STEPHEN LEWIS was born in England in 1956, and began his piano studies there in 1964. In 1967 he and his family came to New Zealand, where he continued his studies with the Wellington pianist, Lola Johnson, gaining his A.T.C.L. in 1973. In recent years he has competed in the Wellington piano competitions, with some success. He also plays the violin, and has been a pupil of Keneth Magill for five years. He is a member of several amateur orchestras, and intends to study at Victoria University this year for a bachelor of music degree.

CHRISTOPHER NORTON, aged 21, was born in Tauranga. and began his piano studies at the age of nine. In 1965 he moved to Dunedin and learnt from Aian Meldrum, William Clarke, Johannes Gilsen and Maurice Till. He gained his L.R.S.M. in 1973, under Maurice Till, and in the same year completed his bachelor of music degree with firstclass honours. He has concentrated on both piano and composition, and has performed a number of his own works both in concerts and over the YC network. He won a number of composition prizes at Otago University, and was in the “Top 30” of “Sing a New Song.” In both 1973 and 1974 Timaru groups, under the direction of Sister do Lourdes, commissioned works from him, and both were placed in the national finals in Wellington. In 1974 he moved to Wellington, where he is at present head of music at Scots College, Seatoun. His teacher in Wellington is Barry Margan. He hopes to go, with his wife, to York in 1976 to further his compositional and pianistic studies and to complete a Ph.D. in music education.