Performer: Benjamin Schmid

Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky are welcome in Singapore, sumptuously served up by Benjamin Schmid and Hans Graf.

In a program originally scheduled for the Musikverein in Vienna, Martin Haselböck and his Orchester Wiener Akademie played Beethoven and Schubert both familiar and curiously obscure. 

There are few concert-going pleasures as rewarding as hearing a great conductor performing music he is clearly passionate about and inspiring those around him to ever greater heights of involvement with the music. This is what the audience at the Auckland Town Hall was treated to with Paul McCreesh and his interpretation of Elgar's Symphony no. 2 in E flat major with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. 

Competitions are a tangible goal for the young musician, so choose wisely, don't be disheartened and keep practising...