Winners of the 2026 Secondary Schools Concerto Competition revealed a remarkable generation of young musicians in a landmark Chatswood final.
On winter afternoons in Chatswood, the glass and timber of The Concourse seem to gather sound differently.
Conversations soften as audiences take their seats. Instrument cases appear in clusters. Families wait quietly in foyers carrying flowers and folded programs. Behind stage doors, musicians make the familiar final adjustments – a shoulder roll, a slow breath, one last passage repeated under their breath.
Last Sunday afternoon, those rituals led to something larger than performance.
The winners of the 2026 Secondary Schools Concerto Competition emerged from an afternoon shaped not only by technical excellence but by possibility – the moment where years of private practice entered the public space of an orchestra and audience.
Now in its forty-second year, the competition once again drew the maximum field of one hundred entrants from secondary schools across New South Wales and the ACT before narrowing to six finalists.
By the end of the afternoon, one performance would remain with adjudicators and audiences alike.
Winners Of The 2026 Secondary Schools Concerto Competition Take The Stage
Hosted at The Concourse in Chatswood and accompanied by the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra, the final offered something rare for young musicians: the opportunity to perform as soloists with a full orchestra.
That distinction matters.
Practising alone and performing with orchestral accompaniment are entirely different experiences. One is private discipline; the other becomes collaboration, listening and adaptation in real time.
Among this year’s finalists, seventeen-year-old Connie Liu from Meriden School in Strathfield stepped into that space with a performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto.
The work itself is demanding – expansive, emotionally exposed and technically unforgiving.
Yet what distinguished the performance was not simply command of the score but confidence within the broader sound of the orchestra.
Adjudicators described her interpretation as extraordinary.
Connie was awarded the overall title and received a $6,000 prize supported by Ku-ring-gai Council and North Shore Strings, along with future performance opportunities and a perpetual trophy presented to her school.
Inside The 2026 Secondary Schools Concerto Competition Final
The afternoon reflected the wider purpose of the competition.
Since beginning in 1984, the Secondary Schools Concerto Competition has become recognised as an early stage in the development of Australian musicians who later move into national and international careers.
Past winners include performers who have gone on to establish substantial professional reputations.
But the atmosphere inside the hall suggested something less concerned with outcomes than process.
The finalists represented different schools, instruments and musical approaches.
Alongside Connie Liu, finalists included Christina Bhang and Kiara Morishita-Lee from Abbotsleigh, Jeffrey Dong and another senior finalist from Conservatorium High School, and Jaemin Yoo from Trinity Grammar.
Each arrived through heats and semi-finals to reach the final performance stage.
Hosted by ABC Classic presenter Vanessa Hughes, the event was adjudicated by violinist Dimity Hall of the Goldner Quartet and Sydney Symphony Orchestra flautist Joshua Batty.
Speaking to finalists afterwards, Hall reflected on the significance of performing with an orchestra, describing the experience as an extraordinary step in a young musician’s development.
That sentiment seemed to define the day.
More Than Winners Of The 2026 Secondary Schools Concerto Competition
While the overall title drew attention, the afternoon also recognised quieter achievements.
The KPO Players’ Award acknowledged musicianship developed through rehearsal as much as performance, awarding Jaemin Yoo of Trinity Grammar for outstanding contribution across the preparation period.
Jaemin also received the newly introduced Dual Crescendo Award recognising future potential.
The Barbara Cran Award for best junior performer went to fourteen-year-old violinist Christina Bhang of Abbotsleigh.
The Barbara Robinson Award recognised an outstanding senior performance from a sixteen-year-old double bassist representing Conservatorium High School.
Together, the awards created a broader portrait of musical development.
Not every accomplishment was measured by winning.
Some reflected consistency. Others possibility.
That balance gave the event its particular character.
Listening For What Comes Next
Competitions can sometimes feel definitive.
This one felt different.
The atmosphere at The Concourse suggested not completion but beginning.
As audience members filtered back into the evening air of Chatswood, carrying bouquets and discussing favourite moments, the significance of the event seemed less connected to rankings than to momentum.
These performances will not remain fixed inside one afternoon.
The musicians will continue rehearsing, studying and performing.
Some may move into professional orchestras. Others may carry music alongside different careers.
But for a brief period, they stood before an audience and discovered what happens when years of solitary practice become shared experience.
That possibility – more than any trophy – may be what lingers.
And for Sydney audiences who witnessed it, the winners of the 2026 Secondary Schools Concerto Competition offered a glimpse of Australian classical music not as inheritance, but as something still unfolding.
Event Details
2026 Secondary Schools Concerto Competition Final
Date: Held Sunday, June 2026
Venue: The Concourse, Chatswood NSW
Presented By: Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic Orchestra
Eligibility: Secondary school students in Years 7–12 across NSW and ACT
Hosted By: Vanessa Hughes, ABC Classic
Competition information and future program updates available online.
Photos by: Rez Bagheri, New Point of View