Where are they now?

In just five years since it was first held in the Covid-wary days of 2020, Strike A Chord has provided a stage for remarkable young musicians now on the cusp of professional careers.

Violinist Beatrice Colombis and clarinettist James Skelton – who appeared in separate ensembles in the first Strike A Chord in 2020 – have been accepted into prestigious music academies in Europe, starting this Northern Hemisphere school year. 

Other alumni of SAC ’20, violinist Haneulle Lovell and cellist Noah Lawrence, have won places in fellowship programs with, respectively, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Noah, 22, credits Strike A Chord with providing a performance opportunity that didn’t otherwise exist for high-school-age musicians.

‘It was an important piece of the puzzle in encouraging me to pursue my music career,’ he says. ‘Chamber music is an essential part of a musician’s skill set. Those communicative skills and collaborative skills are transferrable to everything else you do.’ 

Beatrice with her brother and two cousins formed the Cousin Quartet in 2020 when Covid lockdowns that year restricted wider social gatherings. They went on to win First Prize, the Flinders Quartet Mentorship Prize and the ANAM Prize.

‘It was the first serious quartet-playing I ever did, and it sparked a love for quartet-playing for me,’ says Beatrice, 22.

Since then, Beatrice has come far in her development as a professional musician. She has appeared as an emerging artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and has won a place at the Hanns Eisler music academy in Berlin. Recently, she has also been a tutor for a young string quartet in Coffs Harbour, NSW as part of the Strike A Chord Coaching Program.

It is the first year that Strike A Chord alumni have been engaged as tutors for the national program, which this year saw a team of professional musicians, including Beatrice and Haneulle, help 75 ensembles around the country prepare their pieces for the competition.  

The Coaching Program is a growing dimension of Strike A Chord and has enhanced the learning opportunities offered to young musicians. Ensembles from every state and territory are able to take advantage of coaching sessions each year. Priority is given to regional areas, culturally and linguistically diverse students, students from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, and students living with disability.

Beatrice says that being a tutor in the Coaching Program was a learning experience for her as much as for the Coffs Harbour quartet. ‘I got them to close their eyes and play together, so that they could rely on feeling rather than sight,’ she says. ‘It was to get them to play as one instrument, rather than four individual instruments.’

As alumni like Beatrice, Haneulle, James, and Noah continue on their musical journeys, they’re also giving back by offering inspiration, guidance, and support to the next generation of chamber musicians. In just five years, Strike A Chord has not only helped to launch promising careers, but also grown a community of young musicians who are shaping the future of chamber music in Australia.