Four Bright Young Stars Announced To Compete In The Freedman Classical Fellowship 2020 Finals

Following a nation-wide search, four finalists have been selected to compete for the 2020 Freedman Classical Fellowship which, by chance, includes three musicians based in Victoria, violinist Harry Ward (24), cellists James Morley (24) and Richard Narroway (29) plus NSW violinist Grace Clifford (22).

In any ordinary year the cash prize would be awarded at a deciding concert at Sydney Opera House, but in 2020,the four finalists will compete for the $21,000 cash prize without a live audience in front of the panel of esteemed judges. The 2020 judging panel will include Director of the Canberra International Music Festival Roland Peelman, percussionist and Artistic Director of Ensemble Offspring Claire Edwardes, and Senior Lecturer in Conducting and Opera Studies at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Dr Stephen Mould.

The life changing prize enables recipients to undertake a proposed creative and career-defining project. The opportunities for the winner have proved invaluable since the first Fellowships were awarded back in 2001 with previous Fellows reading like a Who's Who of Australian art music including Genevieve Lacey, William Barton, Joseph Tawadros, Claire Edwards and Eugene Uhgetti.

Each year, nine distinguished artists from around Australia nominate Australian classical instrumentalists aged 30 years or under resulting in 16 nominees who become the Fellowship candidates. Each nominee must submit video recordings of their musical performances and the description of a career-building project which they will carry out with the support of the prize.

This year finalists will be assisted by a special mentor, recorder player and Chair of the Australian Music Centre Genevieve Lacey, to lift their project designs to even higher levels. The winner is selected on the basis of the submitted materials, their project proposal and the live performance.

'We are grateful for the commitment and vision of Kathy and Laurence Freedman of the Freedman Foundation who have not skipped a beat in backing Australia's creative artists in this extraordinary year", says organiser Dr Richard Letts, Director of The Music Trust, manager of the Fellowships.

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