Hamilton teenager Victoria Chanwai is something of an old hand on the violin. After all, the 15-year-old has been playing the instrument since she was three.
From the tender age she practised the notes arranged by famous composers and although she said it was difficult to learn, her hard work has paid off.
Victoria has recently been selected as one of the 40 violinists for the 2016 NZ Secondary Schools Symphony Orchestra (NZSSSO).
Course organiser Nicky Fogden-Smith said the NZSSSO was an opportunity for some of New Zealand’s top secondary school orchestral musicians to represent their school and to learn what it is to play in a full symphony orchestra. It is regarded as a significant training ground for young players aspiring to be a part of the New Zealand Youth Orchestra.
Victoria said there are around 40 violinists and approximately 110 musicians from New Zealand in the orchestra.
The orchestra will gather in April in Christchurch for a week long workshop that will conclude with two public performances.
As part of the audition process, she was required to submit a recording of an excerpt from The Planets by Holst and a solo piece of her own choice.
She chose Preludium and Allegro by Kriesler which was also a part of the recital programme for her Trinity College Violin Advanced Certificate examination, which she passed last year with a 98 per cent grade.
Victoria has a musical family – her mum used to play the violin and the flute, her dad and brother play the cello and her sister plays the violin and piano. Victoria also plays the piano and the organ.
She said she practises the violin for forty minutes a day – a figure she believes is "not enough", but the Year 11 St Paul’s Collegiate School pupil has a lot on her plate.
She is currently preparing for her Trinity College Violin ATCL Diploma exam and is hoping to sit a Trinity College Organ exam sometime this year.
"If you have the self-motivation and determination you can go far with it," Victoria said. "It just doesn't come to you, you have to work for it."
