A trio of young musicians will display their talents at a special concert in Barwon Heads this month.
Pianists Matthew Kweh, 17, Christopher Xie, 15, and William Zhang, 12, will perform at Barwon Heads Arts Hub on Sunday, September 28 to raise funds for local children’s charity Cottage by the Sea.
The three musicians, all students of internationally renowned pianist Dr Mark Kruger, will perform a 75-minute program including works from iconic composers such as Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Schumann, Bach, Chopin and Prokofiev.
Mr Kruger said the three young pianists were all wonderful musicians and “a pleasure to work with”.
“They just love what they do and apply themselves, and it comes through in their music-making,” he said.
“They’re very easy to teach, very adaptable, very interested in all kinds of music, and the end result is they play really well, really naturally.
“And the repertoire they’re playing is not kids’ repertoire… it’s real stuff that you would hear professional pianists playing.
“I’m really proud of what they do and I’m looking forward to them being able to perform it in public.”
The concert will also feature the Arts Hub’s new community grand piano, which Mr Kruger and his wife Sally Wilson helped bring to the Arts Hub through their fundraising and advocacy.
Having relocated to Ocean Grove 13 years ago, Mr Kruger and Ms Wilson – herself a soprano who performed across the world for more than two decades – had a long-held desire to see a venue on the Bellarine with a grand piano.
“We’ve both lived overseas in various places – Berlin, London, Moscow, New York – and we wanted to start putting on concerts in the area,” Mr Kruger said.
“The problem was there wasn’t a grand piano in the area.
“In order to ask our friends from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to come and give a concert you’ve got to have a good enough piano.
“So now that’s in place, we’re going to start a morning melodies series next year. It’ll be local artists, artists from Melbourne and interstate.
“This concert is a kickstart to raise awareness that we’re putting on concerts, raise funds for Cottage by the Sea and raise awareness for the kids.”
Visit www.bellarineclassics.com.au for tickets and more information.
