While you were in Year 8 at BGGS, you passed the Certificate of Performance with Trinity College London with Distinction, were awarded the Highest Score Award and the Queensland Top of State award, and while in Year 9 completed the Associate Diploma. How did you balance music practice and study while at school?
Looking back at my high school days, I can see how busy and stressful it all was, but at the time I thought of music as a fun distraction from schoolwork. I think the most important thing for me was to have some sort of routine. I would always come home and practice until around 9 or 10 pm, and then do my schoolwork afterwards. The fact that I balanced practicing piano, playing flute in Symphonic Winds, singing in choir, doing my schoolwork, and also participating in co-curricular sport like badminton during my years at BGGS made me realise the possibilities and limits of my abilities, and has made it easier for me now to juggle multiple things at the same time.
At what age did you decide this was the career that you wanted to pursue?
I didn’t actually decide to pursue music professionally until around the end of high school. I have been learning piano since I was four years old, so it is such a natural part of my life that I never thought too much about it. I only understood that it was something I wanted to pursue when we were exploring different career paths in Year 12. I realised that none of the other careers particularly appealed to me and that piano was actually the part of my life that I enjoyed the most.
What are you enjoying most about studying at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo?
For me, the best thing about studying at the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH) is how international it is—I have met people from all over the world who share the same passion for music, and sometimes I think about how amazing it is that we’ve led such different lives but ended up in the same place, playing music together. NMH also has one of the friendliest and supportive environments I’ve come across, with the students all encouraging one another and the professors genuinely caring about their students’ progress and wellbeing. Another aspect that I love is the projects organised for us each year, where each professor’s class presents themed concerts, as well as an annual piano tour where all the pianists travel around Europe and perform together.
How did you get the opportunity to study abroad?
I always knew I wanted to study overseas, so I had been researching universities for quite a while before I applied this year. As this was during the COVID-19 pandemic, most universities had moved their auditions online, which was a blessing in disguise as that meant I didn’t have to fly to different countries in order to audition. I recorded about an hour of my repertoire at the beginning of this year and sent the audition tape to a few different schools—the Sibelius Academy, University of Toronto, McGill University, and the Norwegian Academy of Music. I was actually fortunate enough to be accepted into all four schools and ultimately decided to accept the offer to the Norwegian Academy of Music, which was my top preference.
Having already graduated from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University with a Bachelor of Music, what would you like to do after you complete your Master of Music?
At the moment, I definitely want to keep studying in Europe, and I am thinking about pursuing a Doctor of Music in either Helsinki or Amsterdam. I have also been enjoying teaching piano throughout my Bachelor and Masters degrees, so I would love to continue doing that as well.
What are some of your standout performance moments in your career and why?
I think performing a concerto with the Queensland Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra was very memorable for me. It is an indescribable feeling playing together with an orchestra to a full audience, filled with buzz and nerves, and elation. Also, my recent concert in Bergen at the Jiri Hlinka Piano Academy was also very special to me, as it was my first solo performance since the pandemic began. The audience was so enthusiastic and it was wonderful to be able to share music live again.
