Programme Arts Excellence, High Achiever Awards

Jointly funded since 2002 by the Christchurch Regional Committee and The Canterbury Community Trust and administered by the Christchurch Regional Committee, these awards assist young New Zealanders of outstanding ability and real development potential in the performing arts in preparing for a career.

Applicants must have had a substantial portion of their training and artistic development within the region covered by The Canterbury Community Trust i.e. Canterbury (north of the Rakaia River), Nelson and Marlborough.

Applicants must be New Zealand citizens, but not necessarily resident in either The Canterbury Community Trust's region or in New Zealand at the time of applying.

Applications close annually on 30 June.

For further information and how to apply : The Dame Malvina Major Foundation, P.O.Box 2324, Christchurch, or cmaccoll@clear.net.nz

$135,500 has been awarded in the past 6 years.

Previous Winners:

James Armitage

Counter-tenor

A Cathedral chorister from the age of eight, James developed as a counter tenor with the Christ's College Chapel Choir in Christchurch. With the support of a Community Trust Arts Excellence Award he studied in England based at Eton College. In 2001 James studied at Canterbury University under Dame Malvina Major and graduated with a degree in performance music.

James is the first New Zealand counter-tenor to study at the Royal College of Music in London where he has sung masterclasses taken by Michael Chance and James Bowman, has sung as the counter-tenor soloist in Bach cantatas in the London Bach Festival and the role of Micha in Handel's Samson at St John's Smith Square. He has also sung solo recitals at the Royal College of Music, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Christ Church Oxford. He is a member of the Gonzaga Consort specializing in renaissance music and has sung with the choirs of the Chapel Royal, the Royal Hospital Chelsea, St John's Hyde Park and Christ Church Hampstead.

Euan Harvey

French Horn

After completing Bachelor degrees in Music and Business Administration from Victoria University of Wellington, Euan worked as a corporate tax specialist becoming a Chartered Accountant in 2002 before taking up a Fulbright Scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music in New York. During his studies he was an active freelancer in the New York area and made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2003. In 2004 Euan was invited to play principal horn with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and performed with them in Jerusalem. As a chamber musician, Euan has performed in America with ensembles and in Europe with the Verbier Festival Wind Quintet.

Euan was formerly co-principal horn of the UBS Verbier Festival Orchestra, resident orchestra at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland under the music directorship of James Levine and has performed in some of the major concert halls of Europe and Asia during the Orchestra's autumn tours. Euan has played with all the major orchestras in New Zealand, including the NZSO at the arts festival of the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Australia.

After being third horn with the Auckland Philharmonia and sub principal horn with the NZSO, Euan is currently with the Sydney Symphony.

Kirsten Simpson

Pianist

Kirsten studied at the Royal College of Music in London and in 2004 graduated with a postgraduate diploma in performance. She is currently on the advanced postgraduate accompanists' course studying solo piano with Gordon Fergus-Thompson and piano accompaniment with John Blakely and Roger Vignoles.

Kirsten graduated from Canterbury University with a Master of Music degree in performance piano, having studied with Diedre Irons. She has also studied with Judith Clark, Iola Shelley and June Mohammed.

Kirsten recently performed for a Winston Churchill Memorial Concert at Blenheim Palace with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. She also accompanied a soloist for the finals of the Kathleen Ferrier Competition 2005 at Wigmore Hall.

Kirsten participated in the Georg Solti Accademia di Bel Canto in Italy, receiving a grant from the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation from which Foundation along with the Dame Malvina Major Foundation, she has received a grant to complete her advanced postgraduate studies. She was also part of Patricia Hurley's French for Opera Singers School in the South of France also funded by the Dame Malvina Major Foundation.

Past recipients:

ARTS EXCELLENCE

2007:	Ben Morrison (violin), Jun Bouterey-Ishido (piano), Amanda Winfield (voice), Rachelle Pike (voice)
2006:	Jun Bouterey-Ishido (piano); Christopher Bryant (dance); James Donaldson (cello), Alexandra Lomeiko (violin)
2005:	Sarah Buchan (violin), James Armitage (voice), James Donaldson (cello), Anastasiya Filippochkina (violin), Francis Yapp (cello)
2004:	James Armitage (voice), Sarah Buchan (violin), Michael Story (jazz, double bass), Joanne Yi (piano)
2003:	Sarah Buchan (violin), Euan Harvey (french horn), Kirsten Simpson (piano), Raewyn Winter (flute)
2002:	Matthew Allison (trombone), Michael Stewart (organ and conducting), Carolyn Wu (piano)

HIGH ACHIEVER AWARDS

2007:	Milesa Cepe (drama & music), Evans Chuang (piano), Luke Di Somma (composition & direction),  Nadia Edwards (highland dancing), Jeremy Harris(jazz saxophone), Tony Lin (piano & composition), Daryl Linton (ballroom & Latin dancing), Jessica Thompson (ballroom & Latin dancing)
2006:	Evans Chuang (piano); Ben Le Heux (conducting)
2005:	Emily Brown (musical theatre), Evans Chuang (piano), Kimberley Woods (speech and drama)
2004:	Alys Cordeaux (voice), Michael Joel (opera, conducting), Zeb Wulff (piano)
2003:	Stephanie Bain (voice), Roanna Cooper (percussion), Luke Di Somma (flute, music directing), Sophie Gray (voice and drama)
2002:	Iselta Allison (violin), Karen McLean (voice), Sarah Masters (clarinet), Sarah Van Boekhout (speech and drama), Raewyn Winter (flute)