L-R: violist Hiu Sin Hillary Cheng and cellist Ceridwen McCooey

It's Episode 4 of Season 1 of The Talent 2022! This week's show will feature performances by violist Hillary Cheng and cellist Ceridwen McCooey. You'll hear them perform live to air a wonderful programme with works including [INSERT HERE], and then receive immediate feedback on air from professional industry mentors.

Want to listen? Make sure to tune in every Tuesday night at 7pm to 103.5FM 3MBS Fine Music Melbourne. You can also stream the live broadcast at 3mbs.org.au or catch up later on our podcast! Just search for "The Talent 3MBS" in your favourite podcast app and subscribe.

Scroll down to find out more about Hillary and Ceridwen, and more details about what they'll be performing.

Violist Hiu Sin Hillary Cheng

Violist Hillary Cheng
Photo credit: Daniel Spellman

Hillary is a 17-year-old violist currently in year 12. She started learning viola at the age of 6 and was admitted to the Junior Music Program at Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) where she studied with Mr Felix Ungar. Hillary is currently studying viola with Ms Alexandra Hiew. At the age of 11, Hillary attained LTCL in Viola Recital from the Trinity College of London. She has been awarded numerous prizes at the Hong Kong Schools Music Festival over the years and is most recently an award recipient of the 2021 Balwyn High School Music Scholarship and winner of the 2020 DGS Concerto Competition. In addition to solo performing, Hillary is also an active participant in chamber and orchestral groups. Hillary is the viola section leader of the senior string orchestra at school and a member of the Balwyn High School string quartet, as well as being a member of the viola section of the Melbourne Youth Orchestra.

Hillary will perform:

  • Max Reger: Suite for Viola Solo No.1 in G minor, Op. 131d: I. Molto Sostenuto
  • Henri Vieuxtemps: Elegie for viola and piano Op. 30

Cellist Ceridwen McCooey

Cellist Ceridwen McCooey.
Photo credit: Kiril Stavrevski

Ceridwen began learning the cello when she was nine years old. She began writing for cello whilst attending the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School where she investigated the practice of improvisation in cello repertoire. She was lucky enough to be selected for the Melbourne Recital Centres' three year scholarship program Accelerando, an opportunity Ceridwen feels shaped her love of contemporary music performance. In 2018 Ceridwen was given a scholarship to study a Bachelor of Music Performance at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. In 2019, Ceridwen was awarded the Kate Flowers Memorial Scholarship through the University, for a performance demonstrating the relationship between cello and electronic looping pedal. In 2019 she was awarded the Allan Zavod Performers award for her performance of an original composition also for solo cello and looper called The Conference of the Birds. This work was recently released as Ceridwen's debut album with New York based label Rhodium. Last year, Ceridwen was commissioned by Arts Centre Melbourne to write a work as part of Memory: 5x5x5 2020.

This year she has participated in mentoring sessions with the Australian Art Orchestra and Ensemble Offspring. Her composition was chosen for the Flinders Quartet's Emerging Composers program. Ceridwen is currently completing her Honours in music performance at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music for which she has received the Corinna D'Hage Mayer String Scholarship and is currently looking into a masters in performance/composition abroad.

Ceridwen will perform:

  • Ceridwen McCooey: The Parrot
  • Ceridwen McCooey: The Sea Heron
  • Ceridwen McCooey: I Have Outlived the Night

Tune in to The Talent every Tuesday night at 7pm to 103.5FM 3MBS Fine Music Melbourne. You can also stream the live broadcast at 3mbs.org.au or catch up later on our podcast! Just search for "The Talent 3MBS" in your favourite podcast app and subscribe.