Classical career

In her final year at Girls Grammar, violinist Fiona Qiu balanced her duties as Griffith House Captain and a member of the Student Council with a blossoming international and national music career.

As a high-performing student—torn between studying optometry and pursuing music—Fiona had a lot of balls to keep in the air. But it taught her some lasting life lessons.

‘I tried my best to stick to a strict schedule, carving out specific times for both (music and School), but it wasn’t always smooth sailing,' she admits.

`The whole experience taught me a lot about managing my time and staying disciplined, and those lessons have been incredibly useful in other areas of my life.

`Thankfully, I had a strong support system that helped me through. I’m especially grateful to my family—my mother drove me to school, violin lessons, and auditions, and I honestly couldn’t have done it without her.’

Fiona’s music-teacher mother was a guiding force early on, with her prodigious talent clear from an early age. At 11, Fiona toured China, Russia and Europe with the Tagiev Chamber Orchestra. In Year 9, she joined the Queensland Youth Symphony as first violinist, before moving to the Australian Youth Orchestra.

Although she considered taking the `sensible’ route of studying optometry after graduating from BGGS, she ultimately decided to pursue her passions and took up a Bachelor of Music at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.

While completing her degree, Fiona was appointed concertmaster of the Australian Youth Orchestra National Music Camp in both 2019 and 2020. The significant annual event gathers together more than 200 of Australia’s most talented young musicians to form two symphony orchestras and one chamber orchestra. Crossing over to popular performance, she also shared the staged with Michael Bublé when he played at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in 2020, just before pandemic restrictions dealt a major blow to the performing arts.

During her time at the Conservatorium, Fiona was awarded a bursary to learn from some of the world’s top violin teachers in Europe and went on to study for her Master’s degree at the famed Mozarteum University in Austria. Here, she formed Alpenrose Trio with fellow students, pianist Bernice Chua and cellist Jan Lomosik, returning to play for the Girls Grammar community at the annual Gala Concert in 2024.

2025 was an enormous year for Fiona. She completed her Master’s, was named Australian Chamber Orchestra Emerging Artist for the year, and performed at the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in front of an eclectic star-studded audience that included David Beckham, Yo-Yo Ma and Spice Girl Mel B.

Another highlight of 2025 was taking part in Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer’s Sydney concert, performing scores from The Lion King, Interstellar, Gladiator and Wonder Woman.

`It was such a surreal experience working with the legend himself. His music has been the movie soundtracks to so many of our childhoods,’ she wrote of the experience.

In 2026, Fiona will perform with the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra.

Although still early in her career, she has amassed an astonishing list of awards, including the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant, QCGU Ena Williams Award, Postgraduate Prize, Owen Fletcher Prize, Barbara Hebden Bursary, Matilda Jane Aplin Prize, Vada Jefferies Prize, Basil Jones Sonata Prize, Nora Baird Bursary, German Violin Travel Bursary, and Griffith Award for Academic Excellence. As a soloist, Fiona has been broadcast on ABC Classic FM, 3MBS, and 4MBS, and has appeared with the QCSO, the Kelvin Grove Orchestra and Ensemble Q. She was also a founding member of the Artamidae String Quartet, which won the 4MBS Chamber Music Prize.