UQ pianist named Australia’s top young performer

A gifted UQ music student who commenced piano lessons at four years of age has taken out Australia’s top classical music prize.

Oliver She won the coveted title at the 2010 ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Awards grand final on July 27 after navigating Rachmaninov’s notoriously difficult Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor, Op 30.

The “Rach Three” as it is colloquially known, featured in the film Shine and has been performed to acclaim by piano virtuosos including Vladimir Horowitz and Van Cliburn.

Mr She competed against fellow UQ student Richard Pollett and Melbourne clarinetist Ashley Smith to follow in the footsteps of previous winners Simon Tedeschi, Diana Doherty and Roger Woodward.

He received a $20,000 cash prize in addition to securing a recital program and concert engagement with a major Australian symphony orchestra.

A third-year piano performance student, Mr She had played the infamous concerto in last year’s Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition final where he drew high praise from Yale University’s Professor Boris Berman.

For this performance, Mr She was accompanied by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra under conductor Marko Letonja.

“My rehearsals meant that I felt well-prepared for my grand final performance,” Mr She said.

“The conductor, Marko Letonja, was very supportive”.

Mr She now shares the honour with his teacher, Max Olding, who took out the award himself almost 60 years ago in 1952.

“Oliver is an extraordinary student with a capacity for focus and concentration that enables him to perform with absolute reliability and conviction,” Mr Olding said.

Head of the School of Music Professor Margaret Barrett congratulated Mr She on his achievements and thanked staff and students for their support.

Now in its 66th year, the Young Performer of the Year Award is the oldest and most prestigious classical music prize in Australia.

The grand final will be shown on ABC 1 on Sunday, October 31 at 4.30pm.

Media: David Mayocchi (07 3365 4121, uqdmayoc@uq.edu.au)