National Win for Waikato Cellist

Another student of the University of Waikato Music Department has scored a major triumph in a national musical competition held in Christchurch last Saturday evening. In the finals of the New Zealand National Concerto Competition, Edward King was awarded the first prize for his stunning performance of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto #1 with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Competing against two other finalists, Edward gave a performance of the work that in the words of one of the adjudicators, Peter Watts, was “completely in the middle of the soul of this most difficult and emotionally demanding work”. Both Watts and the conductor, Sir William Southgate were full of praise for Edwards’ command of the situation, professionalism in working with the orchestra, giving a performance that was totally in partnership with conductor, orchestra and composer. Edward gained a magnificent silver trophy and a cheque for $8,000. He was also given national exposure when Eva Radich interviewed him on Radio New Zealand Concert’s Upbeat programme the following Monday.

 This caps an extremely successful year of competition successes for Edward, who also has won the University of Waikato Concerto Competition, the University’s Hillary Chamber Music Competition and the Pettman/Royal Overseas League Chamber Music Competition which will see his Leonari Trio travelling to Great Britain for five weeks of concerts and master classes. Edward has been a Hillary Scholar at the University for the past three years, and has succeeded in becoming the first of two students to enter the University of Waikato’s newly-created Soloist Programme, which is a first for the Australasian region, and is a specialized programme created to further enhance his chances in having a career as an international soloist.