Leading Australian musicians share how this competition boosted their careers

How the ABC Young Performers Awards helped launch the careers of these Australian musiciansBy Ria AndrianiABC ClassicTopic:Music Awards6m ago6 minutes agoSun 15 Feb 2026 at 9:00pmEmily Sun, who won the ABC Young Performers Awards in 2018, was a soloist in the 2023 Classic 100 in Concert on ABC TV. (ABC TV)abc.net.au/news/abc-young-performers-awards-launch-australian-classical-artists/106341202Link copiedShareShare articleThe ABC Young Performers Awards have been running since 1944. The competition has launched the career of some of Australia's most successful musicians.Entries open for the ABC Young Performers Awards 2026Do you know Australia’s next big star in classical music? For performers aged 31 and under, entries are now open for the ABC Young Performers Awards.Many have achieved recognition on international stages including composer and violist Brett Dean, pianist Simon Tedeschi, percussionist Claire Edwardes, violinist Emily Sun and more.In 2026, the Young Performers Awards have returned to ABC Classic.To find out what it's like to be in the competition, we spoke to past winners about their preparation, journey through the rounds and the opportunities the Awards unlocked.Percussionist Claire Edwardes on preparing to competeLoading...Claire Edwardes is one of Australia's most recognisable percussionists.She's particularly respected for her work championing contemporary classical music by women and other marginalised voices.Edwardes is the Artistic Director of contemporary classical group Ensemble Offspring.She entered the competition in 1999 while waiting to start her post graduate degree in the Netherlands."The competition gave me something to focus on and work towards," Edwardes says.In 1999, being a percussionist wasn't something many aspiring musicians considered as a career choice, so Edwardes competed in a category known as "other instruments".But she went above and beyond to prepare her repertoire."I wrote out by hand a piano reduction of Joseph Schwantner's Concerto for Percussion and orchestra, because it really showed the breadth of all the different things I was capable of," Edwardes says.She even sought some advice from Christopher Lamb, an American percussionist who premiered the music in 1995.Edwardes won against serious contenders, including pianist Andrea Lam and violinist Alexandra Osborne, who are both also highly successful musicians today.The percussionist spent the next seven years playing as a soloist with all of the symphony orchestras around Australia."That never would have happened if I hadn't won the Young Performers Awards," she says.Violinist Emily Sun on how the competition boosted her careerLoading...Emily Sun is an internationally sought-after violinist who regularly performs on some of the world's most beautiful stages including here in Australia.She first became known to audiences through the 2011 documentary Mrs Carey's Concert, which followed a group of students preparing for a major performance at the Sydney Opera House.Sun has a long history of involvement with the Young Performers Awards, being one of the finalists in 2011 and finally winning the competition in 2018."Winning the YPA [Young Performers Awards] marked a huge turning point for me in my performing career," Sun says."It gave me the confidence and opportunities to perform across Australia in concerto, recital and chamber settings."As part of the prize, Sun became ABC Classic's Artist in Residence, which included recording an album and appearing in features on air and digital platforms."I definitely came out of it as a different artist," Sun says.Her success has grown beyond the competition.In 2023, Sun became a custodian of 'The Adelaide', a rare 250-year-old Italian violin crafted by famed luthier Giovanni Battista Guadagnini.Clarinettist Lloyd Van't Hoff on the musicians he metLoading...Clarinettist Lloyd Van't Hoff, who won the competition in 2015, says that his biggest takeaway was making connections with other musicians.Van't Hoff grew up in Charters Towers in Far North Queensland. Meeting a dedicated and inspiring music teacher when he was 11 changed his life.His family moved to Brisbane so Van't Hoff could pursue tertiary studies at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in Melbourne.When he decided to audition for the Young Performers Awards, Van't Hoff was "really at a loss" after finishing his studies."I felt this expectation from my peers, teachers and family who had all invested in my musical education," he shares.Even though Van't Hoff initially felt intimidated by the prospect of the competition, he gave it a go."[Luckily], I had all of this repertoire that felt pretty cozy," he says.In 2015, most of the rounds took place in Tasmania.Professional musicians collaborated with competitors on the semifinal chamber music rounds, and the Tasmanian Symphony