Hanna Wallace's Strike A Chord story
Hanna Wallace grew up playing the violin. She just didn't love it. Then her parents made her an offer she couldn't refuse. "My mum also plays the violin," Hanna explains, "so it was always kind of her thing and not my thing." When her parents suggested she swap to viola to complete a family quartet, enter the new Strike A Chord competition, and put an end to the complaining, she figured she had nothing to lose.
What followed was the Cousin Quartet's performance of Mendelssohn at the inaugural 2020 Strike A Chord National Final, and a First Prize that Hanna describes simply as "the best time I've ever had in my life."
Five years on, she's studying at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) and part of a growing community of Strike A Chord alumni making their way into tertiary study and professional music careers.
At the 2025 National Final, Hanna returned to Strike A Chord as a guest panellist, joining a Q&A facilitated by ABC Classic presenter Ed Le Brocq to speak honestly about where the competition had taken her. The message was direct: "It was Strike A Chord that made me want to pursue music as a career. It's really changed my life."
Watch Hanna talk about her experience here.
Watch the Cousin's Quartets prize winning performance here.