Concert wraps up school

Jessica Farquhar (17), of Wellington, Sophia Tarrant Matthews (16), of Wellington, Nicholas Liew Ker Jun (13), of Malaysia, Dickson Fung (25), of Auckland, and Lydia Harris (18), of Christchurch. Photos by James Beech.

Bunty Cook (14), of Sydney, Nicholas Liew Ker Jun (13), of Malaysia, Alexa Thomson (16), of Nelson, Sarah Coghlan (21), of Melbourne, and Hiroo Fukuoka (20), of Whangarei.

Vivian Stephens (20), of Wellington, John Choi (17), of Auckland, Jin Kim (15), of Hamilton, and Jonathan Tanner (20), of Christchurch.

Olivia Francis (18), of Cambridge, Annabel Drummond (15), of Dunedin, and Hilary Hayes (16), of Hamilton.

A mixture of excitement, nervousness and confidence flowed from the 26 international students of the 2010 Queenstown Violin Summer School, before their Grand Finale Concert on Friday night.

The concert in the Queenstown Memorial Hall was the culmination of 12 days of intensive study and public performances under the guidance of violinist Kevin Lefohn, school founder and artistic administrator of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and a teaching staff of three pianists and seven international violinists.

Seven young violinists were selected to give classical recitals, five with piano accompaniment.

The whole school gathered for the "world premiere" of Southern Strings Charitable Trust chairman John Drummond's Hoedown to Q-Town.

Queenstown Lakes Mayor Clive Geddes thanked the students for enriching the lives of the community each year.

Mr Lefohn said the six public events had exceeded box office predictions and two, in St Peter's Church, had sold out.

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