Ian Chiao
Recently moving to Melbourne from New Zealand, 19-year-old violinist Ian Chiao is now a third- year student, pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He is currently under the tutelage of Dr. Curt Thompson and has studied in the past with teachers such as Amalia Hall, Monica Naselow, and Dimitri Atanassov. He has also received masterclasses with top performers such as James Ehnes, Ioana Cristina Goicea, Dale Barltrop and Cho-Liang Lin.
A passionate musician with an interest in all performance, he has performed solo internationally and has also received top prizes for both solo and chamber competitions worldwide such as the International Valsesia Musica. Ian also enjoys orchestral playing and has been placed in principal positions of the VCASS orchestra, Australian Youth Orchestra as well as the concertmaster for Melbourne University Philharmonic Orchestra and Symphonic Orchestra. Last year, he toured interstate in Australia alongside soloist Jack Liebeck with the AYO Momentum Ensemble, and also toured with the MCM Symphony Orchestra around Asia last year.
As a chamber musician, Ian has been mentored on many occasions by members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian String Quartet, Gewandhaus Orchestra, Pettman Music Academy of New Zealand, and Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, and was part of the APO Chamber Program where he was invited to perform from a young age. Ian participated in his first Mimir Melbourne Festival in 2022 and was chosen to participate in the 2023 Mimir Chamber Music Festival in Fort Worth, Texas as the first violinist of his group, Auburn Quartet. His Quartet was later invited to perform at the International AIDs Conference in memory of the Ukrainian Scientists on flight MH17, then later invited to perform at the annual Melbourne University Alumni Dinner in Malaysia.
Ian currently performs on a 1916 Giachetti loaned by the Chimei Museum Foundation of Taiwan, and a Nürnberger bow loaned by the Pettman Music Academy of New Zealand. He is also a proud recipient of the 2023 Kate Flowers Memorial Scholarship and the 2023 Corinna D’Hage Mayer String Scholarship.