THE cream of young talent from Canberra and the broader region was on show at the weekend with the ANU School of Music’s new cello mini-festival.

I made it to the Larry Sitsky Recital Room for the final tertiary students’ recital, a display of passionate cello.

Canberra’s James Monro took out first place with some rocoo variations Tchaikovsky and a new composition of his own, closely followed by Eloise Ng, who performed  Hungarian Rhapsody by Popper and a sonata by Fauré.

We also saw in competition Gabriel Fromyhr in an unconventional performance on a gut-stringed cello, powerful works, including one of her own, by Enola Jeffries as well as non-competition showcase performances by Chloe Law and Eleanor Bladon.

It was a moving conclusion to an event two of its organisers, Lindy Reksten and David Pereira, confidently expect will become a regular item on the School of Music calendar.

The full list of placements is:

Primary Students’ Recital

Winner: Ivy Yan

Runners-Up: Sienna Joy Copaceanu and Ryan Xing

Secondary Students’ Recital

Winner: Gabrielle Zhong

Runner-Up: Alexander Davidson

Tertiary Students’ Recital

Winner: James Monro (ANU School of Music student)

Runner-Up: Eloise Ng (ANU School of Music student)