BSSC’s Musician of the Year for 2020 is David Stockwell for his performance of Alexander Tcherepnin’s Timpani Sonatina, as adjudicated by Stephen Briggs – Music Coordinator at BSE.

It was a close finish for the top four performers and two extra Honourable Mentions have been awarded as a result.

The top four performers are:

  • Musician of the Year: David Stockwell
  • Honourable Mention: Tara Muscatello
  • Honourable Mention: Seth Bish
  • Honourable Mention: Charlie Clark

There were also 203 votes counted for this year’s Audience Choice Award and the winner was:

Charlie Davis-Tope – for his performance of Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole (Arrangement by George Shearing)

 

 

 

Musician of the Year 2020 YouTube Video

Student Bio’s and YouTube links

Charlie Clark
Charlie-Clark Instrument: Vocals and Saxophone
Title of Piece: ‘Glorybox’
Composer: Portishead
Duration of Piece: 5:17 (including introduction of piece)
Student Bio:
Charlie Clark is a passionate arts and music student seeking further enhance her music studies next year at University. She plays saxophone, piano and guitar but her main instrument and focus is vocals. Charlie has regular classical and Opera vocal lessons with her teacher Merlyn Quaife and aims to merge her classical training with her love for contemporary music.
Charlie Clark Performing ‘Glorybox’ by Portishead

 

Nick Phung
Nicholas-Phung Instrument: Cello
Title of Piece: Oblivion
Accompanied on piano by Peter Butler
Composer: Astor Piazzolla
Duration of Piece: 3:57
Student Bio:
Nicholas Phung is a classical instrumentalist who specializes in playing the cello. Nicholas has played with many prestigious groups in the 9 years he has played cello. Groups such as The Bendigo Symphony Orchestra and The Victorian Symphony Orchestra have invited him to be apart of their performances and in 2017 Nicholas was able to travel to the U.K. to perform during a 2-week tour with BSE. With the hopes of being able to travel the world and perform in other countries, today he will play Astor Piazzolla’s piece titled Oblivion with pianist accompaniment Peter Butler.
Nick Phung Performing Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla and accompanied on piano by Peter Butler

 

 

Seth Bish
Seth-Bish Instrument: Guitar
Title of Piece: Neon (Live in LA)
Composer: John Mayer
Duration of Piece: 4:22
Student Bio:
Guitar is my favourite instrument, but I also enjoy drums and piano. I appreciate a variety of different music expressions. I developed my music at BSE and my highlights were performing at ‘Fretworks’ and achieving equal first in Musician of the Year in 2018.
Seth Bish Performing Neon (Live in LA) by John Mayer

 

 

 

David Stockwell
David-Stockwell Instrument: Timpani
Title of Piece: Timpani Sonatina
Composer: Alexander Tcherepnin
Duration of Piece: 5:41
Cheryl Long: Accompanied on Piano
Student Bio:
David is a percussionist who has been playing percussion since 2013. David has performed in/at/with many ensembles, including Bendigo Colleges Symphonic Band, multiple small bands, multiple concert bands and many more. David will be performing Alexander Tcherepnin’s Timpani Sonatina. He has chosen to play this Timpani piece because it demonstrates many different techniques used to play Timpani, making it enjoyable to play. David plans to study music at university, to help him pursue a career in music.
David Stockwell Performing Timpani by Alexander Tcherepnin and accompanied on Piano by Cheryl Long

 

 

Tara Muscatello
Tara-Muscatello Instrument: Vocals
Title of Piece: She Used to be Mine
Composer: Sara Bareilles
Duration of Piece: 4:00
Student Bio:
Tara Muscatello is a singer, songwriter, rapper and guitarist who is extremely passionate about music. Tara performs regularly at different functions and events across the Bendigo area consisting of just herself and her guitar. Tara enjoys a variety of music and takes inspiration from different genres which she applies to her own music. Tara aspires to be a full-time performer and recording artist. Her dream is to perform shows around the world and hopefully have her music inspire others. To help her reach her goals, Tara will begin studying at the Australian Institute of Music in 2021 while continuing to perform at a range of events. Music has had a major impact on Tara’s life, inspiring her to pursue it as a career, and this is why she wants to continue down this path and have a career in the industry.
Tara Muscatello Performing She Used to be Mine by Sara Bareilles

 

 

Noah Begg
Noah-Begg Instrument: Guitar
Title of Piece: Bold As Love
Composer: Jimi Hendix
Duration of Piece: 4:00
Student Bio:
I am performing Bold As Love. Enjoy
Noah Begg Performing Bold As Love by Jimi Hendrix

 

 

Charlie Davis-Tope
Charlie-Davis-Tope Instrument: Piano
Title of Piece: Over the Rainbow
Composer: Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole (Arrangement by George Shearing)
Duration of Piece: 2:45
Student Bio:
Charlie Davis-Tope is a keyboardist, singer and composer. He has composed and played a number of styles and genres including classical, jazz, blues, electronic, hip hop, ambient and many more. (Particularly fond of blues and jazz music.) Won the RAW ARTs 2020 performance award and plans to explore many more stories and emotions told through his work.
Charlie Davis-Tope Performing Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole (Arrangement by George Shearing)

 

 

Corey Lionis
Corey-Lionis Instrument:Violin
Title of Piece: Partita 2 in D minor (Allemande and Gigue movements)
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach
Duration of Piece: 6:00
Student Bio:
Corey Lionis is a Bendigo-based violinist and member of the Noble Quartet. With 10 years of history on the violin, Corey has performed numerous times at school events, and outside of school with BSE’s string ensemble. Corey has had a love for music most of his life, and hopes to play in an alt-rock band outside of school. Corey also plays guitar and sings, with influences as wide-spread as Queens of the Stone Age, Cat Power, Jascha Heifetz and The Velvet Underground. Corey will be performing two movements of a famous Partita by Johann Sebastian Bach, which tackles the complex emotions Bach experienced following the death of his wife.
Corey Lionis Performing Partita 2 in D minor (Allemande and Gigue movements) by Johann Sebastian Bach

 

 

Elliot Wellard
Elliot-Wellard Instrument: Electric Bass
Title of Piece: Know Your Enemy
Composer: Rage Against The Machine
Duration of Piece: 4:42
Student Bio:
Elliot is a bassist with a deep passion for Punk Rock, Blues and Rock ‘n’ Roll. He has been playing bass since 2018, drawing influences from bassists such as Sam Kiszka, Flea, Geddy Lee, John Entwistle, Pino Palladino and James Jamerson. He hopes you enjoy this performance.
Elliot Wellard Performing Know Your Enemy by Rage Against The Machine

 

Luka Cordedda
Luka-Cordedda Instrument: Trumpet
Title of Piece: Cantaloupe Island
Composer: Herbie Hancock
Duration of Piece: 4:45
Student Bio:
My name is Luka Cordedda and I play the trumpet. I have been playing trumpet for 6 years and over that time I have performed in several different types of ensembles playing a variety of different styles of music including Jazz ensembles, funk bands, brass bands and orchestras.
Luka Cordedda Performing Cantaloupe Island by Herbie Hancock

 

Ozzie Harwood
Ozzie-Harwood Instrument: Contemporary Guitar
Title of Piece: Who did you think I was?
Composer: John Mayer
Duration of Piece: 4:58
Student Bio:
My name is Ozzie Harwood, I have been playing guitar since year 7, I have always been inspired by guitarists in the world, it always mesmerised me how an instrument could be used to play chords and melody similar to piano. As a guitarist, I studied the blues to understand the foundation of most contemporary music of the last few decades, with blues guitar comes Stevie Ray Vaughan, one of the greatest blues players ever, he influenced many players of today, this including John Mayer who is one of my biggest influences. The song that my band played for musician of the year was “Who did you think I was?” which is a John Mayer Trio song, taking great influence from Stevie Ray Vaughan. It would be awesome in the future to make music, I am looking to move to Melbourne in the next few years (depending on COVID) to pursue a life in the city and gig throughout Melbourne.
Ozzie Harwood Performing Who did you think I was? by John Mayer

 

Winners will be announced on Friday 18th September.