Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University graduate Briely Cutting was named the winner of Symphony Australia Young Performers Award, Stage 3: Keyboard Final this month.
She was awarded the David Paul Landa Scholarship of $25,000 for overseas study and Young Performers Award (YPA) of $5,000. She now progresses to Stage 4, the Grand Final, which will be held on 20 September in Melbourne and recorded for national telecast and radio broadcast by the ABC.
Miss Cutting performed Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.3 in C, Op.26 and said, “I would like to express my thanks to the late Mr Prokofiev. His Third Piano Concerto is such a ripper and it is because of this top piece that I was recognised for the next round of YPA and the David Paul Landa Scholarship.”
She graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium with first class Honours and was the recipient of many scholarships and prizes, including the Minnie May Bussey Scholarship, Women’s Club Scholarship, Brisbane Club Scholarship, Basil Jones Sonata Prize, Ruby C. Cooling Prize, the Griffith Award for Academic Excellence, and the Owen Fletcher Postgraduate Scholarship.
“The Queensland Conservatorium seemed like the natural choice for me. When my family was back at the farm in Tregeagle, where I grew up, the older students and teachers of the local area always talked of ‘the Con’ as the place where serious music study took place.”
In 2005, Miss Cutting completed her fourth year as a scholarship musician in the Advanced Performance Program at the Australian National Academy of Music.
She is currently studying for her Masters of Music in Performance at the Queensland Conservatorium.
When asked about her plans for the future, she said, “My master plan is to take every opportunity I can and enjoy it!”