Founder Catherine Harker always envisaged that BCMF would engage in fostering the next generation of musicians. In 2027, BCMF and Mountain Productions takes the first step in bringing this to fruition.

For the first time, BCMF has invited five aspiring musicians to engage in the inaugural BCMF Vanguard program. The Vanguard musicians will collaborate throughout the weekend with Festival Artists and perform at the Sip & Listen event. The Vanguard musicians will also participate in masterclasses with selected Festival Artists.

The five young string players selected to participate in Vanguard 2027 have firmly established themselves as the future of classical music within the nation, having been mentored as part of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellowship, Australian Chamber Orchestra Emerging Artists Program and the ACO Collective.

We look forward to welcoming the first generation of Vanguard artists to the Festival in 2027.

“Young musicians are the new creators, thinkers, performers who push the older musicians to work even harder.”
— Richard Gill AO

Vanguard

  • Fiona Qiu was the First Prize and Audience Choice winner of the 23rd Kendall National Violin Competition and a 2025 Australian Chamber Orchestra Emerging Artist. She has served as Concertmaster for the Australian Youth Orchestra National Music Camp and the Queensland Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra (QCSO) and toured with the Australian Youth Orchestra in 2019. In 2024, she toured Germany and France as an Academist with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Fiona joins Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra 2026-27 season as a Patricia H. Reid Orchestral young musician.

    Fiona recently completed her Master of Arts at the Mozarteum University Salzburg, studying with Prof. Lily Francis. She also trained at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) under the mentorship of Dr Robin Wilson and Prof. Sophie Rowell, and previously studied with Prof. Michele Walsh at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (QCGU). Her awards include the Ian Potter Cultural Trust Grant, QCGU Ena Williams Award, Postgraduate Prize, Owen Fletcher Prize, Barbara Hebden Bursary, Matilda Jane Aplin Prize, Vada Jefferies Prize, Basil Jones Sonata Prize, Nora Baird Bursary, German Violin Travel Bursary, and Griffith Award for Academic Excellence. As a soloist, she has been broadcast on ABC Classic FM, 3MBS, and 4MBS, and has appeared with the QCSO, the Kelvin Grove Orchestra and Ensemble Q.

    Fiona is a founding member of the Artamidae String Quartet, winners of the ANAM 3MBS and QCGU 4MBS Chamber Music Prize. The quartet has participated in masterclasses with the Emerson, Australian, Borodin, Dover, New Zealand, and Goldner String Quartets, as well as Ray Chen. In 2023, a documentary on the Quartet was produced as part of ANAM’s Quartetthaus series. They have performed at festivals including the Peninsula and Bendigo Chamber Music Festivals, the 3MBS Radio Marathon, and on the Australian Digital Concert Hall. The quartet was selected as mentees of the Australian String Quartet and toured regional Australia as part of the program and was invited by Baillieu Myer to perform at a private Myer family gallery. She is also a member of the Austria-based Alpenrose Trio, that was invited to perform for the Austrian Embassy in Canberra in 2025.

    Beyond classical music, Fiona has performed on stage with Academy Award–winning film composer Hans Zimmer, songwriter Katie Noonan, Damien Leith, and Grammy Award–winning artist Michael Bublé and appeared at the opening ceremony of the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

  • Born and raised in Sydney, Lydia started playing violin at the age of nine. Growing up in a large musical family, she knew that music was the path she wanted to take.  

    Lydia completed her Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where she studied with Janet Davies. Subsequently, Lydia completed three years at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) studying with Head of Violin Adam Chalabi, and previously with Zoë Black. Through her time at ANAM, Lydia led the ANAM orchestra numerous times and worked with renowned artists such as Anthony Marwood, James Crabb, Michael Collins, Christoffer Sundqvist and the Brodsky quartet.   

    In 2026 Lydia was chosen to be a Fellow with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as well as an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. 

  • Sebastian Coyne is an emerging Australian violist whose work spans orchestral, chamber, and contemporary music. He previously studied at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) and the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School.

    Sebastian was awarded the Brett Dean Prize for Best Performance of an Australian Work at ANAM for the world premiere of Stuart Greenbaum’s Towards the Edge of Google Maps, written for him for the ANAM Set Festival. His chamber music highlights include performances of Schumann’s Piano Quartet with Anthony Marwood and Schubert’s Quintet in C with Jakub Jakowicz. He has also participated in masterclasses with leading violists Lawrence Power and Tim Ridout, and musician Florian Peelman.

    In 2026, Sebastian was a Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellow and an emerging artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He is currently a recipient of Opera Australia’s Patricia H. Reid Orchestral Fellowship.

  • Noah is a dynamic young musician hailing from Bendigo, Victoria. He has performed side-by-side with most of Australia’s professional orchestras and also as a chamber musician and soloist at the Bendigo Chamber Festival and Port Fairy Spring Festival. He was the Principal Cello of the Australian Youth Orchestra in 2024.   

    Noah studied with Cally Bartlett in Bendigo, then with Sam Goble in Castlemaine. From 2018 he learned with Josephine Vains at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School in Melbourne, before completing three years under Howard Penny at the Australian National Academy of Music. In 2025 he took the next step as a Fellow with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and returned to this role in 2026. In 2027 he joins the Opera Australia Orchestra as the Patricia H. Reid Cello Fellow. Noah is at home in diverse musical contexts; his goal is always to create connection through performance.

    Noah plays a cello by Rainer Beilharz, made in 2023 in Castlemaine.

  • Harry moved to Sydney from Toowoomba in 2022 and is studying a Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium under Alex Henery. He was a Fellow with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2025 and spent 2026 as an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, while being on contract in the bass section of the SSO.

    He has also performed as a casual musician with the Tasmanian Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia, Camerata - Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, Omega Ensemble, and Ensemble Apex, and has toured Europe twice – with the Australian Youth Orchestra in 2025, and the Sydney Con in 2022.

    In 2026 he was soloist in the premiere of his own ‘Tango Concerto’ with the Sydney-based Caesura Ensemble, and has performed as soloist in another of his compositions with Camerata – QCO. His music for bass ensembles is also regularly commissioned by the Big Brisbane Bass Days. Harry is a keen tango and bluegrass musician and has been active in bands in the Sydney scene since 2022.