Caroline Wang (10), Hector Pan (11), Noah Grote (13) and Madeleine Wilkins (13) form the (now award-winning) Wollongong Conservatorium Junior String Quartet. Photo: Region.
A striking victory for four young Illawarra musical talents has spotlighted the region’s virtuosity on the national stage.
The Wollongong Conservatorium (WollCon) Junior String Quartet has won first prize in Musica Viva Australia’s prestigious Strike A Chord competition, topping fierce competition from across the country.
Their win, in the Foundation Section for musicians up to AMEB Grade 4 level, marks a major milestone for the local music scene — and an inspiring national debut.
Caroline Wang (10) and Hector Pan (11) on violin, Noah Grote (13) on viola and Madeleine Wilkins (13) on cello were brought together by WollCon teacher Jack Mao in mid-2023.
“It’s quite rare to find this level of talent, all at the same stage and all wanting to develop their skills. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t that be great, I have all the players for a string quartet, they’re all of similar age, let’s bring them together and see what happens,'” he says.
What happened was something remarkable: a group of young players whose dedication, chemistry and skill have already put them among the nation’s best.
The Junior String Quartet is the youngest chamber group Jack has ever formed as part of his long-running passion for small ensemble performances across diverse disciplines.
From lively, toe-tapping tunes to the timeless elegance of Bach and the emotional depth of Beethoven, the quartet’s musical tastes are as varied as their instruments — yet they “click”.
“It’s amazing they’ve gelled so well, and the fact they are already at this stage is super exciting,” Jack says.
Strike A Chord encourages young musicians to discover the joy of chamber music, offering professional coaching and a platform to perform at a national level.
This year’s competition attracted a record 170 ensemble entries — 675 young musicians — with a 38 per cent increase in Foundation Section participants.
WollCon teacher Jack Mao (centre) entered the quartet into Strike A Chord’s Foundation Section simply to provide an opportunity. Photo: Region.
Jack entered the group with no expectations, submitting a recording of Kevin Ou’s Cerulean simply to give them a new challenge.
“I figured, let’s just give it a go. It was our first time doing anything like this. I wanted them to play as well as they possibly could — whatever the result, it was going to be a great experience,” he says.
“One morning I opened my emails and it said ‘Congratulations WollCon Junior String Quartet has been awarded first prize’. I needed to take a minute to process it and then my next thought was — ‘How should I tell the kids?'”
He asked the group to guess their placement.
Hugo came in conservative with a guess of 230th, Caroline guessed 80th, Madeliene 47th and Noah, a bit more confident, guessed 20th, and received a high-five.
“Eventually Madeliene and Noah worked their way up to two and when I gave them another high-five, they all thought that meant they’d come second. They were already pretty happy with that,” Jack says.
Then he broke the news: “I said, ‘Hang on, I said I would high-five the person who came closest. You didn’t come second,” Jack says.
“When the penny dropped, there was pandemonium.
“I was thinking, ‘No way, this can’t be right,'” Madeleine says. “It was amazing to come first out of that many musicians.”
Strike A Chord is a crucial part of Musica Viva Australia’s mission to create memorable musical experiences for audiences at every stage of life and for musicians at every stage of development.
WollCon CEO Annette Brown says the win speaks volumes.
“When you think this competition includes entries from the country’s top music schools, it really puts it into perspective,” she says.
“It highlights the calibre of our educators, like Jack, who created this opportunity. I couldn’t be prouder, because at the end of the day it doesn’t matter whether these kids become elite instrumentalists, but it does matter that they’ve had this chance.”
