Yiyun Gu (Pianist)

Chinese-born Australian pianist Yiyun Gu appears on stage frequently as a soloist and chamber musician. Yiyun completed her Master of Music at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music with Stephen McIntyre AM. She traveled to UK and Italy to participate in music festivals and study master classes with many world-renowned musicians. She competed in many national and International competitions, and was the recipient of the Finalist Awards in both 2012 and 2014 Australian National Piano Award.

From 2017, Yiyun has performed a series of solo recitals at Melbourne Recital Centre, exploring the differences and similarities in the music languages from eastern and western cultures. The two upcoming solo concerts at MRC in 2022 are “Tales of the Wind, the Night & the Far East” and “From Peking Opera to Don Giovani”. In October 2019, Yiyun worked with conductor Thaddeus Huang and Australian New Goldberg Orchestra, performing arrangements of Chinese folk music by Bao Yuan Kai. She also performed in Port Fairy Spring Music Festival (2017 and 2019), Brunswick Beethoven Festival, 3MBS Marathon 2013 and 2022, Government House for the Governor of Victoria, and Melbourne Town Hall with the Melbourne University Symphony Orchestra.

Yiyun started to learn piano at the age of 3, and made her first appearance of playing concerto with orchestra at the age of 12. She won prizes in several youth competitions when she was in Shanghai. After the completion of a bachelor’s degree in economics (Shanghai JiaoTong University) and a master’s degree in commerce (University of Melbourne), Yiyun decided to devote herself to music performance and teaching, with the passion for sharing her love of music with audiences and students.

Matthew Rigby (Violinist)

Born in Townsville, North Queensland, Matthew’s career as a violinist began as a soloist with the former Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra at just fifteen years of age. Since then he has performed over 30 different concertos and solo works with orchestra. He has appeared as soloist in concert alongside internationally acclaimed musicians Slava Grigoryan, Karin Schaupp and José Carbó. He performed for HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, served as pre-tour soloist for Vadim Repin with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and was soloist numerous times with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. In recent years Matthew has performed across the world as a soloist including in the UK, Germany, Spain, China and Australia whilst continuing to perform with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and as a member of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra.

In 2006 Matthew was a finalist in the Symphony Australia Young Performer’s Awards. In the same year, he received the Australian Music Examination Board’s highest award, the ‘Fellowship of Music’. In 2007 Matthew received first prize in the Gisborne International Music Competition and the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition. He has been the recipient of many awards and scholarships including a Llewellyn Foundation Scholarship and the Hugh Brandon Memorial Scholarship from the Australian Music Examinations Board. Additionally, Matthew was selected for the Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition in Fermo, Italy.

He completed his Bachelor of Music at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University with Elizabeth Morgan. During this time he won all of the performance competitions open to him and was awarded the highest recital performance marks for strings. Matthew has attended mastercourses in Switzerland with renowned violinists Akiko Tatsumi and Zakhar Bron, and travelled to Finland to study the Sibelius and Rautavaara Violin Concertos with Jaakko and Pekka Kuusisito. Since 2009 Matthew has been based in Melbourne where he studied at the Australian National Academy of Music with William Hennessy and Adam Chalabi. This period saw him perform with members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and perform chamber music with artists such as Anthony Marwood and the Brodsky Quartet. Throughout his career, he has participated in masterclasses with many of the world’s leading violinists including Rudolph Koelman, Thomas Zehetmair, Lara St. John, Dene Olding, Tasmin Little, Mark Kaplan and Charles Castleman.

Ticket Prices:

Full: $35
Concession: $25
Group 8+: $25

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