Samuel Hooper announced as TSO's 2024 Rising Star!
4 Apr 2024
Our TSO 2024 Rising Star is Samuel Hooper!
Samuel, a student of TSO Concertmaster Emma McGrath, is a violin player with a great passion for music.
14 year old Samuel displayed incredible virtuosity, maturity well beyond his years and a level of musicianship seldom witnessed in one so young. His performance of Sarasate’s Caprice Basque had the panel absolutely captivated from the first note to the last. He is indeed a very worthy winner.
The candidature this year was outstanding, and all the students represented themselves incredibly, doing themselves and their teachers proud. Huge thanks to the teachers of the students, both instrumental teachers and classroom teachers and to the collaborative pianists on the Audition Day, Karen Smithies, Jen Marten-Smith, Dianne Legg and Alexey Yemstov.
Samuel will receive the Rising Star prize package including:
- The Tim Bugg AM Prize worth $2500 to further the winner’s musical education.
- The opportunity to perform as a soloist with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Tasmanian Youth Orchestra.
- Publicity opportunities as the 2024 Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Rising Star.
Find out more about the annual Rising Star Competition here.
Samuel Hooper, photo by Toby Frost.
About Samuel Hooper
Samuel Hooper is 14 years old and has a passion for music. He studied violin for 10 years with local teacher Dan Evans and now studies with Emma McGrath, Concertmaster of the TSO.
Samuel completed his AMEB 8th grade violin exam in 2022 and, for this, was awarded the Australian Strings Association (AUSTA) Tasmania Prize for the most outstanding candidate in strings.
At both the 2022 and 2023 Hobart Eisteddfods, Samuel was awarded the Celeste Thomsen (Quinn) Trophy and Memorial Award for the most outstanding string performer aged 16 years & under. At the Sydney Eisteddfod in 2022, Samuel was the inaugural recipient of the Most Promising Young String Player Award. In 2023 at the Sydney Eisteddfod, Samuel was awarded second place in the Open Age String Sonata section and also performed in the 90th Anniversary Gala Concert in the alumni orchestra. Samuel has been accepted into the 2024 Australian Youth Orchestra Young Symphonists program.
He would like to be a soloist and chamber musician and to teach violin.
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