Born in Sydney in 1996, Nicholas Kennedy gave his first paid public performance at the age of seven. He has studied piano with Clemens Leske, Gerard Willems and Rita Reichman; cello with Julian Smiles and Susan Blake and chamber music with John Harding. In addition, he has participated in classes with artists such as Sa Chen, Alexey Sokolov and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt.

Nicholas made his concerto debut in 2014 as a finalist in the NSW Secondary Schools Concerto Competition, performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 1 with the Kuring-Gai Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2015, he was selected as a finalist in the Sydney Conservatorium Concerto Competition, and a semi-finalist in the IX Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, in which he was also awarded the prize for Best Performance of a Prelude and Fugue. In 2016, he received second prize equally on cello and piano at the Australian Concerto and Vocal Competition, as well as the award for Most Promising Pianist. He also performed in the Theme and Variations Emerging Artists series, and was a Showcase Artist in the XI Sydney International Piano Competition.

A passionate chamber musician, Nicholas has recorded with the Australia Piano Quartet, holds both the Mollie Neale and Megan Evans Memorial Awards for Accompaniment and is the founding cellist of the Hutcheson Piano Trio. In addition, he performed at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in 2016.

Nicholas was an inaugural member of the Rising Stars program at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he is now studying a Bachelor of Music (Performance) and holds the James Richard Edward Chapple scholarship.

For more information on Nicholas, see website lev-vlassenko.com/staff/nicholas-kennedy

Born in 1994, Martin Lijauco began learning piano at the age of six at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music's “Open Academy” program under the tutelage of Amanda Miller. Throughout his schooling life, Martin quickly excelled with achievements in local Eisteddfod competitions and AMEB examinations. His passion for music propelled him to complete his high school studies at the Conservatorium High School in 2011, where he began learning under Clemens Leske. Here, Martin extensively performed as a solo pianist and chamber musician, including contributing a performance in a radio coverage of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, and conducting/leading his house to victory in the high school's annual house concerts as House Captain.

Although his musical training has largely revolved around Classical repertoire, Martin also regularly gigs as a contemporary pianist and drummer. Martin currently volunteers and serves as a Youth Music Co-ordinator at his local parish where he regularly co-ordinates the music for mass services, as well as performance sets for charity concerts which have helped his youth group to raise thousands of dollars to go towards ministerial services.

Martin is currently completing a Bachelor of Music (Performance) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where he continues his lessons with Clemens Leske. He plans to study overseas with a focus on accompaniment.

To contact Martin, see Facebook page www.facebook.com/martin.lijauco