Violinst Emily Sun and pianist Chad Vindin take out major prizes at the prestigious UK competition.

Australian violinist Emily Sun has won the Gold Medal at the Grand Final of the Royal Overseas League Competition, held at Cadogan Hall in London. Sun won the String Section category earlier in the year, and was competing against a pianist, saxophonist and baritone for the £10,000 prize. I am incredibly honored and thrilled to be awarded the Gold Meda,” she said, “this competition accepts competitors from all Commonwealth countries and I am very excited to have represented Australia. This award is especially important to me as I am the only violinist to have won the Gold Medal since 1981.”

ROSL Competition Gold Medal winner Emily Sun

Sun has already achieved success in Australia, having won the National Youth Concerto Competition and ABC Young Performers Award and performed as a soloist with the Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland, Tasmania and Canberra Symphony Orchestras. She also starred in the award-winning documentary Mrs Carey’s Concert and studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before moving to the UK to study at the Royal College of Music. She has been supported in 2016 by the Australian Music Foundation’s Nora Goodridge Emerging Artist Award. “This could not have been possible without the support of the Australian Music Foundation who have sponsored me through years of study at the Royal College of Music in London,” she said. “Without the help of this thriving foundation it would be impossible for young Australian musicians to pursue our careers abroad. I am eternally grateful for all the support I have received from Australia.”

Sun performed Debussy’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in G Major and Henryk Wieniawski’s Fantasie Brillante sur les Motifs de L’Opera ‘Faust’ de Gounod in the finals, to an audience that included Australian soprano Yvonne Kenny AM, the AMF’s UK Chairman. I was delighted to be in the audience to support Emily in her Gold Medal-winning performance,” Kenny said, “She played beautifully and was a worthy winner. We at the AMF are incredibly proud to have been able to support Emily through her studies and have always believed in her exceptional talent. We congratulate her and wish her every success for her future career.

Sun was not the only Australian to take home a prize. Pianist Chad Vindin, Junior Fellow at the Royal College of Music and author of the satirical music blog throwcase.com, took out the Accompanist’s Award. 

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