Outstanding Musicians Achieve Top Honours
Huge congratulations to Shostos (Chloe Jiang – violin, Elise Tian – cello, Polly Lee – piano) on winning the 2024 National Final of the NZCT Chamber Music Contest in Wellington with a stellar and moving performance of Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No 1 in C minor.
Now in its 60th year, the NZCT Chamber Music Contest is the largest and longest running chamber music event of its kind in Aotearoa. This event provides thousands of ākonga, of all proficiency levels, the opportunity to perform together.
Polly Lee says of winning the contest, “it felt like a huge accomplishment for all of us. We have made it through to the national finals of this contest in 2021, 2022 and 2023 before finally winning it in 2024 – our fourth consecutive year being a national finalist. We are so thrilled to be able to do this for us, Mrs Kingsbury and Rangi Ruru. It feels like all our hard work, not just this year, but all previous years as well, towards chamber music has been rewarded! As individuals and as a group, we have thoroughly enjoyed the process of learning new pieces together, navigating our way through them, and of course, enjoying the special moments performing on stage”.
These talented young musicians build on and continue a very strong legacy of chamber music at Rangi Ruru, where many groups have been national finalists. In fact, for the last 10 years Rangi Ruru has been represented at the national finals every year, aside from a Covid affected 2020, a huge feat in itself.
Achieving an award like this comes through hours and hours of dedication to their craft and it is true that practice makes perfect. Elise Tian comments, “To prepare for this contest we initially rehearsed as a whole group once a week on a Sunday with Mrs Kingsbury, who guided our rehearsals. We also had rehearsals during the term breaks. As the contest grew closer, we rehearsed more and more, with the ten days before the National Final seeing us rehearsing most days for two hours at a time. Occasionally, the strings (cello and violin) would rehearse together to fix mostly intonation and sound production problems as this piano trio by Shostakovich had a lot of unison passages that were challenging to play in tune. Individually a lot of work was put in to learn our own parts, but most of our time went into rehearsing as a group and unpacking the details of the music. The more we rehearsed, the more we discovered about the music, meaning the more new ideas we had to explore. Every rehearsal was different with the new ideas coming from each other (including Mrs Kingsbury). We learnt a lot from playing with each other. The whole process from beginning to end was full of laughter and learning, and we all enjoyed every bit of the journey.”
These students are no strangers to this stage, having been finalists before. This is the first time, however, as Shostos. Their tireless work, perfecting their group dynamic and homing in on their performance paid off. It is fair to say, Shostos is a group of passionate and devoted performers who have steadfastly had their eye on the prize.
Director of Music, Janet Kingsbury says, “It has been such a pleasure and absolute privilege to have had the opportunity to mentor, and learn from, these wonderful young musicians. I feel so very fortunate to work in an environment that is so supportive in enabling young people to learn to value the process of rich and deep learning to achieve at the highest levels that they are able to at any given moment. This award recognises excellence for not only members of Shostos, but also excellence of the many stunning musicians who have gone before Chloe, Elise and Polly, as well as providing a platform for younger students to build on and aspire to.”
As winners of this title, these students not only act as exemplars to younger students who may be considering coming to Rangi Ruru specifically for our personalised music programme but also to their peers. Their actions and subsequent results prove that a student can, with perseverance and good time management, excel at both academic and co-curricular endeavours.
As with most achievements in life, there is often a small band of just as dedicated supporters in the wings, encouraging and supporting them. Chloe pays tribute to those who have supported their journey. “Winning the NZCT Chamber Music Contest would not be possible without the tremendous support we have received. The Rangi Ruru Music Department has been an important part of our success, providing us with not just technical training, but a nurturing environment where we could grow as musicians and as a group. From our teachers who have guided us with their expertise, to our peers who have inspired and motivated us, and to our families who have been our biggest cheerleaders—every person has played a vital role in our journey.”
She continues, “Being part of the Rangi Ruru Music Department means being surrounded by a community that values excellence, teamwork, and creativity. It’s a place where we are encouraged to think outside the box, explore new ideas, and support each other every step of the way. The friendships and mentorships we’ve formed here is something that we will cherish forever, and we are very proud to represent such a positive and supportive community.”
Chloe sums it up beautifully, for as one of the top performing schools in New Zealand for music, a strong partnership between the students, their families and teachers exists and lays a foundation for a lifetime of contribution to communities of music. May this talent be shared with friends, family and the wider community for many years to come.