1.00pm on Tuesday May 19
Live and Free at Scots’ Church
Ben Fu - piano and friends
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - 2nd movement of Clarinet Concerto in A major, KV.622
Frederick Chopin - 3rd movement of Cello Sonata in G minor, Op.65
Franz Liszt - 'Dante' Sonata, S.161 No.7
Oliver Messiaen - Quartet for the End of Time:
I - Crystal liturgy
III - Abyss of the birds
V - Praise to the Eternity of Jesus
VIII - Praise to the Immortality of Jesus
21-year-old Ben Fu is a 3rd year student at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, studying piano with Glenn Riddle. He has won both Preston Symphony Concerto Competition and the Boroondara Concerto Competition and made his concerto debut in 2022 performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No 3 with the Preston Symphony Orchestra. Other awards include winning the Ballarat Celebrating Chopin Competition, the PolMusicA National Music Competition, the Ann and Chris Krans Award, the Margaret Green Scholarship and the Reg Lewis Scholarship. At MCM, in addition to a prestigious Entrance Scholarship, Ben has also been awarded the Pearis Roger, Frederick Harlock, Grace Funston, Wright Prize, Mckay Pianoforte, Ormond Exhibitions, and DW Gardiner Memorial Scholarships. Ben is a keen chamber music player, and recitalist, and he frequently records for 3MBS radio.
In 2023, Ben was invited to perform in the ‘Showcase series’ in Sydney International Piano Competition, performing Ravel’s Scarbo from Gaspard de la Nuit. Ben has also been invited to perform in the Lunchtime Concert Series at St. Peter’s Cathedral, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Scots’ Church and Diamond Creek Uniting Church.
In 2024 Ben was invited to perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No 2 in C minor with both the Whitehorse Orchestra and the Maroondah Symphony Orchestra.
Flora’s passion for music began at an early age. She began playing the cello since the age of ten and the piano since six. She studied cello with Karol Kowalik until 2021, and subsequently with David Lale, achieving her AMusA in Cello in 2022 and LMusA in 2023. She is currently a second-year Bachelor of Music (Performance) student in Cello at the University of Melbourne, studying under Richard Narroway. Alongside her cello studies, she completed her AMusA with distinction in Piano in 2021 and awarded her LMusA in 2024 under the guidance of Esther Lee.
Flora has competed in numerous Queensland Eisteddfods for both cello and piano, achieving outstanding results. In 2022, she received a Highly Commended award in the Queensland Symphony Orchestra Young Instrumentalist Prize Competition and was selected as a finalist in 2023.
In 2023, she was part of both a piano trio and octet within the University of Queensland Chamber Music Program, receiving masterclasses from Adam Chalabi, Anna Grinberg, Patrick Murphy, and Tim Li. These ensembles achieved success at numerous Eisteddfods, including a performance at Customs House.
Flora has been a member of the Queensland Youth Symphony since 2023, touring Singapore and Europe as Second Cello. The orchestra performed in eight renowned concert halls, including the Mozarteum and the Esplanade Concert Hall, with the highlight being a performance at the Musikverein.
In 2024, she received coaching from Professors Felix Schmidt and Jo Cole at the Royal Academy of Music, and from Professor Amanda Truelove from the Royal College of Music.
In 2025, she participated in a masterclass with Sharon Grigoryan. Her Melbourne-based piano trio, had the privilege of performing at the Government House Melbourne for the Australian Day. Earlier this year, her string quartet was selected to receive a masterclass with the Australian String Quartet.
Flora aspires to become the finest musician she can be and hopes to pursue further studies abroad to deepen her artistic understanding and continue refining her craft.
Born and raised on the Gold Coast, Ingram is a 22-year-old Australian violinist currently pursuing advanced studies at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music under the guidance of Associate Professor Sophie Rowell. He performed on a 1925 Vincenzo Sannino violin on loan from the Chimei Museum.
His passion for the violin began at the age of seven, inspired by the legendary artistry of Jascha Heifetz and David Oistrakh . He devote considerable time to the study of twentieth-century masters such as Aaron Rosand, Nathan Milstein, and Henryk Szeryng, drawing inspiration from their recordings and interpretive traditions. In 2019 I participated in the Cremona International Music Academy and Festival, where I received masterclasses with internationally renowned pedagogues including Paola Tumeo, Mark Lakirovich, Mischa Lakirovich, Sophia Novak-Sogland, and the late Roberto Cani.
Deeply engaged with Australia’s musical community from an early age, hehas performed in the Gold Coast Youth Orchestra throughout primary school and progressed through the Queensland Youth Orchestra programs: QYO3, QYO2, and the Queensland Youth Symphony, where I performed under the baton of the late John Curro AM MBE. I have been an active participant in Australian Youth Orchestra (AYO) programmes since 2020, serving as Principal Second Violin of the Brislan Chamber Orchestra (2024), Associate Concertmaster of the Alexander Symphony Orchestra (2025) and Bishop Symphony Orchestra (2026), and performing with AYO’s flagship orchestra on its 2025 international tour which gave me the opportunity to perform in some of the world’s greatest concert halls including The Concertgebow and the Musikverein Wien. Additional performance highlights include my 2022 solo appearance with the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto alongside the Gold Coast Philharmonic Orchestra and the Queensland Youth Symphony’s 2023 international tour to Singapore, Germany and Austria.
Chamber music remains at the core of my musical identity. He regularly collaborates with colleagues in string quartets and small ensembles, including freelance side-by-side projects with Ensemble Q. My freelance career encompasses casual work with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (2025) and a wide range of professional engagements.
His commitment has been recognised through numerous awards, including the Vicky Speight Trophy for Most Outstanding Soloist in Strings (Gold Coast Eisteddfod), the Nancy Weir Music Scholar Award (Queensland Music Teachers Association), the Beverly McIlwain Scholar Award, the Artistic Development Grant from the Friends of the Arts Foundation, First Prize in the Queensland Conservatorium Paganini Competition, Second Prize in the Ronald Clifford Davis Violin Prize, Second Prize in the Young Instrumental section of the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition (2018), and semi-finalist standing in the Kendall National Violin Competition.
He holds a Bachelor of Music (Performance) from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (GPA 6.091). In parallel with my performing career, I maintain a private teaching studio and pursue independent research into violin chinrests and instrument making.
Joshua completed his Bachelor of Music (Performance) at the Queensland Conservatorium in 2023. Since then he successfully auditioned for the LUCA School of Arts in Belgium, and as a casual member with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Joshua has attended numerous masterclasses across Europe with the leading clarinettists of our time, such as the principal clarinettists of the London Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and Paris Opera. He is currently studying his Masters of Music (Orchestral studies) at the Melbourne Conservatorium.