It was huge day of music and fun on Sunday the 18th of September. The 6th annual Cooma Music Competition was a resounding success. This year we had over 80 contestants performing in 19 heats during the day. The Finals Concert capped off the day with 22 performances and a presentation of 8 trophies. The Finals Concert included performances by all the winners of the daytime heats as well as special performances by The Snowy Mountains Ensemble and Snowy Mountains Christian School Concert Band, pilule both conducted by Rodney Clancy, as well as a rock band from Bombala, “Critical Acclaim”.

The guest judges were the head of  The Alfred Deakin High School music department and prolific musician and composer, Marian Budos and his wife Ivana Troselj. Ivana is a wonderful singer and composer. Marian and Ivana have performed together all over the world. Marian’s compositions are still regularly performed in Europe and the USA.

I’d like to give a special thanks to all the wonderful volunteers who made this competition work so well.

and the winners are…

HEAT	NAME	PRIZE
SOLO CLASSICAL GUITAR-PRIMARY	OSCAR LITCHFIELD	MEDAL
SOLO CLASSICAL GUITAR-SECONDARY	ANNAKA DYKSTRA	MEDAL
SOLO MODERN GUITAR-SECONDARY	ANNAKA DYKSTRA	MEDAL
SOLO PIANO-PRIMARY	ANNA STOLZ	MEDAL
SOLO PIANO-SECONDARY	NIKO BAKKER & MATTHEW VENTURA	MEDAL
SOLO STRINGS-PRIMARY	SARAH VENTURA	MEDAL
SOLO STRINGS-SECONDARY	TAMARA JOHN-NATLEY	MEDAL
SOLO WOODWIND BRASS-PRIMARY	ELLIOT PEARSON	MEDAL
SOLO WOODWIND BRASS-SECONDARY	CAITLYN VENTURA	MEDAL
SOLO VOICE-PRIMARY	KAYLA GAY	MEDAL
SOLO VOICE-SECONDARY	VENDULKA WICKTA	MEDAL
SOLO VOICE-OPEN	ROWENA EVANS	MEDAL
ORIGINAL COMPOSITION-PRIMARY	KAYLA GAY	MEDAL
ORIGINAL COMPOSITION-SECONDARY/OPEN	MATTHEW VENTURA	MEDAL
VOCAL GROUP-PRIMARY/SECONDARY	DARA SMITH, MIRANDA EVANS, HAPPI HUMAN	TROPHY
VOCAL GROUP-OPEN	MARK SALVESTRO & MIRANDA EVANS	TROPHY
SMALL INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE-PRIMARY	INDIA & JADE OLD	TROPHY
SMALL INSTRUMENTAL ENSEMBLE-SECONDARY	CAITLYN & MATTHEW VENTURA	TROPHY

and the overall winners from the Concert of Finalists…

CAITLYN VENTURA	Frank Scott Music Award   Trophy & $50 cash
MATTHEW VENTURA	Russell & Jackie Fox Music Award   Trophy & $50 cash
KAYLA GAY	Ron Cox Music Award   Trophy & $50 cash
TAMARA JOHN-NATLEY	Strings Award  Trophy & $50 cash & a Peak Music Stand donated by The Sydney String Centre
VENDULKA WICHTA	Robert Shearer Vocal Encouragement Award (under 18)  Certificate & $50 cash
NIKO BAKKER	Peter de Jager Piano Prize   Trophy & $200 cash & a Gift from the Snowy Monaro Arts Council
ANNAKA DYKSTRA	Narrawong Classical Guitar Award   Trophy & $200 cash
KAYLA GAY	The People’s Choice -“Voted Best Overall Performance” chosen by the audience  Trophy & $100 cash

 

Congratulations to all the winners and all the performers for a wonderful contest and concert!

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger image)