Three finalists have been selected for the prestigious Freedman Classical Fellowship this year, which awards an Australian classical instrumentalist aged 30 or under a $20,000 cash prize to undertake a career-enhancing creative project. Violist Katie Yap and double bassists Jonathan Heilbron and Rohan Dasika will compete live in concert at the Sydney Opera House’s Utzon Room on October 20. The winner will be selected by a panel comprising Roland Peelman, Director of the Canberra International Music Festival, Anna Melville, Artistic Administrator of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and pianist Sonya Lifschitz.

Katie Yap

“This year’s finalists modernise the way we think about classical music. The double bass and viola are not the first choice when we consider classical instruments, but these trail-blazing young musicians are bringing them out of the shadows and onto centre stage. While their paths are very different, our finalists draw on diversity and breadth of five centuries of music, while imagining a new future for classical music in Australia – on the vanguard, forging their own futures, on their own terms,” said Peelman.

If successful, violist Katie Yap intends to use the Fellowship money to undertake a tour of both Australia...