Masterclasses in music

Li-Wei Qin is a world class cellist. He regularly appears as a soloist or chamber musician with leading orchestras including the Rundfunk- Sinfonieorchester Berlin, London Philharmonic, Prague Symphony, BBC Symphony and Sydney Symphony.

“I was about to give my first solo performance with the Melbourne Grammar School Symphony Orchestra and Li-Wei was scheduled to perform the same piece with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra around the same time,” explains 2017 Captain of Music, Vincent Wang. “I was really pleased when he agreed to return to the School and work with me on the piece.”

The pair spent more than an hour focusing on the opening two minutes of the performance. “Li-Wei’s advice was very detailed. He worked on numerous aspects of my performance, including providing tips to deal with nerves,” says Vincent. “It was great to be able to spend time with someone with so much professional experience.”

“There is a huge history of ‘music success’ at Melbourne Grammar. Students have gone on to very high-end careers,” says Vincent. “It is good to have these tangible examples. It makes me think ‘Why can’t I do that?’”

Ultimately Vincent’s performance was outstanding, with Mr Nick Evans, Deputy Headmaster and Head of Senior School, describing it as “superb”.

2010 Captain of Music, Daniel Le, is currently studying a Masters in Classical Performance at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. “I enjoy coming back to the School,” says Daniel. “There was always a feeling of enthusiasm and respect for musicians at the School, and that is still the same. It is one of the great Grammar things.”

An outstanding pianist, Daniel honed the skills of several students during his visit. “When you are appreciated and valued, you want to give back, so I am pleased to be able to work with the boys and, hopefully, encourage them to do the same,” he said.

Daniel believes that the point of creating art is to enrich the community so, to him, it is a natural extension to want to use his musicianship in the service of others. “I recently performed in a concert to raise funds to ‘save the whales’. It was water themed, with each piece highlighting a different musical approach to water,” he says.

“I am currently organising a concert which will feature Australian and American music,” says Daniel. It will be held in the Lincoln Center in New York on Anzac Day next year and it will be my debut there, so I am pretty excited.”

Both Vincent and Daniel were awarded scholarships at Melbourne Grammar School. “I would never have been able to come to Melbourne Grammar without a scholarship,” says Daniel. “These scholarships are a good representation of how our community is supporting the arts, with donors having the chance to nurture new and emerging musicians.”