Meet our 2025 Award recipients

Each year, with the wonderful and generous contributions of our supporters, we are able to recognise some of our most outstanding exam performances across the year. Examiners nominate an array of superstars, with final selection coming down to very tough decisions made by our AMEB Tasmania State Committee. Let's meet them now, drum roll please...

for the most outstanding string performance in Level 1 exams goes to Lucas Wang.
Lucas' Cello (Comprehensive) Grade 4 exam earnt him an A+ and this prize. Examiner, Martin Penicka, had this praise for his exam performance: "Lucas, this was a great performance today, very enjoyable and well prepared... Keep up the good work!"
Well done Lucas and teacher, Nicholas McManus!
Thanks so much to the Australian Strings Association (AUSTA) Tasmania for supporting this award.

for the most outstanding string performance in Level 2 exams goes to Sophia Labattaglia.
Sophia's Cello Certificate of Performance Exam gained her an A+ and this accolade. Examiner, Martin Penicka, had this praise for her exam performance: "Sophia, this was a very well prepared and most enjoyable performance. All works presented were technically secure and played with good understanding of the varied musical styles. You make a great sound, with a wide variety of expressive colours... Well done, happy music making!"
Well done Sophia and teacher, Jonathan Békés!
Thanks so much to AUSTA Tasmania for supporting this award (as well).

for the most outstanding string performance in Level 3 exams goes to Anthony Nermut.
Anthony's Associate in Music Australia Cello Exam was one of the highest and finest exams amongst all string players in the state. Examiners, Petr Diviš and Martin Penicka, said that his exam performance was "well-prepared" and cited his obvious potential and joy in performing.
Well done Anthony and teacher, Jonathan Békés!
Thanks so much to AUSTA Tasmania for supporting all three of these awards to recognise excellence at all levels.

for the most outstanding Candidate in Northern Tasmania goes to Sumi Higgins.
Sumi achieved an Award in her Singing Associate in Music Australia (AMusA) exam and received some wonderful feedback from Examiners, Petr Diviš and Martin Penicka: "This was a very well prepared and balanced program that enabled you to demonstrate maturity and musicianship over a variety of styles... Your performances always felt coherent and well thought through, delivered with purpose and conviction. The memory work was secure at all times, and there was a good sense of ensemble with your accompanist. An engaging and musical presentation today that highlighted your musicianship and ability to connect with an audience."
Well done Sumi and teacher, Petrina Jahnz!
Thanks so much to Barratts Music for supporting this award.

for the most outstanding Candidate in North-West Tasmania goes to Toby Baptist.
Toby didn't just complete his first exam ever - he totally aced it with an A+ for his Piano for Leisure (Repertoire) Preliminary exam. Examiner, Michael Power, provided some wonderful words of encouragement and recognition: "Congratulations on your first exam today, Toby. You demonstrated genuine joy at the piano, with a clear intention for each piece and great care was taken for the sound that you are developing. Excellent memorisation of your pieces in a program that was performed to the highest level. Bravo!"
Well done Toby and teacher, David Fletcher!
Thanks so much to Fosters Music for supporting this award.

for the best exam performance in Classical Guitar goes to William Sefton.
William's Classical Guitar (Repertoire) Grade 1 exam earnt him an A and this nomination.  Examiner, David Malone, thought that Williams was very well technically set up, adding very positive encouragement: "William, this was an enjoyable short recital... It was pleasing to hear good, confident tone in your playing and your performance was very secure, musical and obviously well prepared... Well done!"
Well done William and teacher, Alan Welsh!
Thanks so much to the Hobart Guitar Society for supporting this award.

for the most outstanding brass or woodwind Candidate in Tasmania goes to Cacia Charles.
Cacia achieved an A in her Flute (Repertoire) Grade 5 exam. Examiner, Shing Leung, had this praise for the performance: "Thank you for your playing Cacia. This was a lovely and well-balanced program, delivered with assurance and musical sensitivity. You produce a good, centred tone with reliable air control, allowing for smooth, well-shaped phrases and generally accurate intonation. Articulation is a strong feature, from neat light staccatos and well-defined mezzo staccatos to clear semiquaver and triplet figures, all contributing to fluent, confident playing. A well deserved result. Continue enjoying your flute playing"
Well done Cacia and teacher, Julie Bennett!
Thanks so much to Modern Musician for supporting this award.

for the most outstanding Rockschool Candidate in Tasmania goes to Natalie Beard.
Nat achieved a distinction-worthy score of 92% in her Rockschool Piano Grade 3 grade exam. Nat's name may be familiar to many as our resident Exam Supervisor in Devonport. When she's not at AMEB, she's teaching music and expanding her own knowledge on a variety of instruments. This exam earnt her the highest Rockschool exam result in the state! Examiner, Hamish Houston, said: "You showed strengths in all areas during this performance, your dynamics were varied, your accuracy was strong, and you showed a good sense of musical structure and stylistic knowledge. Well done... An outstanding performance."
Well done Nat and teacher!
Thanks so much to Modern Musician for supporting this award (as well).

for the most outstanding Candidate in Southern Tasmania goes to  Charlie Low.
Charlie achieved an A+ in his Percussion (Comprehensive) Grade 3 exam in what his Dad described as his most successful musical year yet. Our first percussionist award recipient in a number of years, Examiner, Gary Wain, had plenty of praise for Charlie's performance: "Congratulations. An all round excellent exam today. Everything well prepared, all notes accurate, all dynamics observed, technical aspects properly played. You produce a strong, confident and always pleasant sound, and have rock-solid time keeping."
Well done Charlie and teacher, Tracey Patten!
Thanks so much to Modern Musician for supporting this award.

for the most outstanding Candidate in Grade 7 Piano goes to Allyn Chinthammit.
Allyn achieved an A+ in her Piano (Comprehensive) Grade 7 exam in the same year that she achieved a great result for Violin Grade 5. Examiner, Amanda Hodder, had plenty of nice things to say about Allyn's exam: "Thank you so much for playing today; you are developing into a wonderful young pianist, with a fantastic pairing of musicianship and fluency. Your excellent fluency, and the rigor in your preparation, means that you're able to beautifully realise all of the composers intentions on the page, and are able to elicit a vast range of character within the parameters set by each style. Every phrase was beautifully shaped, every note had beautiful colour and tone. I enjoyed listening to you very very much!"
Well done Allyn and teachers, Dr Krit Niramittham and Sam Braune!
Thanks so much to the Tasmanian Music Teachers' Association for supporting this award.

for the highest score in Theory or Musicianship Grade 5 goes to Miriam Matafanova.
Grade 5 is getting pretty challenging but Miriam still managed to achieve her Theory of Music qualification with an outstanding score of 86. Well done Miriam and teacher, Ruth Parsons!
Thanks so much to the Tasmanian Music Teachers' Association for supporting this award (too), and for honouring the legacy of Jennifer Filby.

for the most outstanding Candidate in Grade 4 Piano goes to Elizabeth Dong.
We hope that Elizabeth's A+ in her Piano (Repertoire) Grade 4 exam is a sign of more great music to come. Examiner, Michael Power, had this praise and encouragement for Elizabeth: "Congratulations on an outstanding recital today, Elizabeth. Each piece was delivered with sincerity, integrity, and great storytelling. Keep up the great work."
Well done Elizabeth and teacher, Tamara Coy!
Thanks so much to Yamaha Music for supporting this award.

This award for the largest cohort of students achieving an A+ in their exam goes to Lyn Loudon and Lynette Smith.
This award specially acknowledges the work that goes on behind the scenes. If it weren't for the incredible teachers we're privileged to work with, none of the above achievements would be possible. This year's worthy recipients are Lyn and Lynette, both of whom had four of their candidates achieve an A+ in their piano exams. Well done Lyn, Lynette, and all their students!
A special mention to last year's award recipients, Tamara Coy, who again had a strong cohort of students. To share the love, winners of this accolade are ineligible for the next two years.

We'll be featuring many of these award recipients, and our supporters, with our "Superstar Saturday" series on Facebook throughout the first few months of the year. These will include some fantastic words from them about their exam experience and the joy of performing.

To find out about our amazing supporters who make this possible, or to find out about the prizes for some extra inspiration and motivation, please visit our Awards page.