New Programme of Study for Gifted Performance Students

Young Colombian cellist and Sir Edmund Hillary scholar Santiago Canon-Valencia is taking part in a new music programme at Waikato University. The 14 year old is one of two cellists studying at Waikato who’ve been earmarked for international solo careers. Academics have put together a programme for Canon-Valencia and Aucklander Edward King to groom them for a life on the international concert circuit.

“There are many programmes available for graduate students but we’ve worked on an undergraduate offering,” says senior music lecturer and cello teacher James Tennant. “Students will get three hours contact time a week with tutors but will also have a research component added to their degree. Soloists need to have a thorough understanding about the history of the pieces they play and the ideas that inspire a particular work. They also need to be able to talk confidently about works they’re performing, and that requires some knowledge of other languages too.”

Subject to final approval, James Tennant says the international programme will be offered to piano, violin and cello students in the first instance. To be eligible, students must have won or gained a placing in a major New Zealand or international competition and need to have played a concerto with a professional orchestra.

Santiago Canon-Valencia has performed extensively since he was 12, and Edward King also a Waikato Sir Edmund Hillary scholar, recently won first prize at the New Zealand National Concerto Competition in Christchurch, capping off a successful year in which he also won the University of Waikato Concerto Competition, the University’s Hillary Chamber Music Competition and the Pettman/Royal Overseas Chamber Music Competition, which will see his Leonari Trio travelling to Great Britain for five weeks of concerts and master classes.

“Music is so much more than technique and having ‘the fingers’,” says Tennant who has had a career as a concert soloist. “A lot of prodigies never really develop because once they’ve mastered a piece they don’t see a need to carry on learning. Musicians need to be good listeners and need always be thinking about broadening and deepening their perspectives. The life of a soloist is not always an easy one so there are elements of psychology to cover as well. We want to send our musicians out as well-rounded individuals.”