University of Otago School of Performing Arts bachelor of music student Portia Bell has received the Dunedin Symphony Scholarship for Orchestral Performance from the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra (DSO).
The annual $5000 award supports students majoring in orchestral performance at the university.
DSO marketing manager Pieter du Plessis said the orchestra created the scholarship to foster exceptionally talented musicians who showed outstanding ability and a clear commitment to orchestral performance.
"We are thrilled to support Portia at this early stage of her musical journey.
"The DSO is committed to nurturing young musicians and ensuring a vibrant future for orchestral music in Dunedin."
Bell said she was delighted to receive the scholarship, which would help provide financial security.
"As a studying student at the university, the cost of fees and living is quite a lot, and so just getting a scholarship like this one, it is quite a substantial amount which can contribute to that."
Originally from Christchurch, Bell started playing the cello when she was ten.
"It is a little bit later than most people, but I had been learning the piano beforehand and I wanted to play another instrument which I could play in an orchestra.
"The main thought behind it was to end up in a professional orchestra like the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra."
Bell said DSO principal cellist Heleen du Plessis encouraged her to audition for the orchestra.
"I did a few concerts last year and really enjoyed it."
The experience inspired Bell to move to Dunedin to begin her first year of study at the School of Performing Arts.
"This year has actually been really, really amazing for me.
"I got some music scholarships through the University of Otago as well, which was really helpful, so there seems to be a lot of support, both financially and with the staff and the facilities."
Performing with the orchestra had accelerated her learning and confirmed why she chose the instrument, Bell said.
"I love the sound of the cello and just the depth and variety of characters and emotions and moods that you can get with it.
"Every time I play it, it literally sounds like I’m singing from the inside, or something, or it is just translating all my ideas in my head out to the audience, which I think is really special."
She hopes to stay busy on stage next year, playing with the DSO.
"I’m also thinking of doing, potentially, a few recitals in the Dunedin area, just to perform more pieces, just because I do love performing."
