How the ABC Young Performers Awards helped launch the careers of these Australian musicians
Mon 16 Feb 2026 at 8:00am
Emily Sun, who won the ABC Young Performers Awards in 2018, was a soloist in the 2023 Classic 100 in Concert on ABC TV. (ABC TV)
The ABC Young Performers Awards have been running since 1944. The competition has launched the career of some of Australia's most successful musicians.
Many have achieved recognition on international stages, including composer and violist Brett Dean, pianist Simon Tedeschi, percussionist Claire Edwardes, violinist Emily Sun and more.
In 2026, the Young Performers Awards have returned to ABC Classic.
To find out what it's like to be in the competition, we spoke to past winners about their preparation, journey through the rounds and the opportunities the awards unlocked.
Percussionist Claire Edwardes on preparing to compete
Loading...Claire Edwardes is one of Australia's most recognisable percussionists.
She's particularly respected for her work championing contemporary classical music by women and other marginalised voices.
Edwardes is the Artistic Director of contemporary classical group Ensemble Offspring.
She entered the competition in 1999 while waiting to start her postgraduate degree in the Netherlands.
"The competition gave me something to focus on and work towards," Edwardes says.
In 1999, being a percussionist wasn't something many aspiring musicians considered as a career choice, so Edwardes competed in a category known as "other instruments".
But she went above and beyond to prepare her repertoire.
"I wrote out by hand a piano reduction of Joseph Schwantner's Concerto for Percussion and orchestra, because it really showed the breadth of all the different things I was capable of," Edwardes says.
She even sought some advice from Christopher Lamb, an American percussionist who premiered the music in 1995.
Edwardes won against serious contenders, including pianist Andrea Lam and violinist Alexandra Osborne, who are both also highly successful musicians today.
The percussionist spent the next 27 years playing as a soloist with all of the symphony orchestras around Australia, including while she was studying in the Netherlands.
"That never would have happened if I hadn't won the Young Performers Awards," she says.
Violinist Emily Sun on how the competition boosted her career
Loading...Emily Sun is an internationally sought-after violinist who regularly performs on some of the world's most beautiful stages including here in Australia.
She first became known to audiences through the 2011 documentary Mrs Carey's Concert, which followed a group of students preparing for a major performance at the Sydney Opera House.
Sun has a long history of involvement with the Young Performers Awards, being one of the finalists in 2011 and finally winning the competition in 2018.
"Winning the YPA [Young Performers Awards] marked a huge turning point for me in my performing career," Sun says.
"It gave me the confidence and opportunities to perform across Australia in concerto, recital and chamber settings."
As part of the prize, Sun became ABC Classic's Artist in Residence, which included recording an album and appearing in features on air and digital platforms.
"I definitely came out of it as a different artist," Sun says.
Her success has grown beyond the competition.
In 2023, Sun became a custodian of The Adelaide, a rare 250-year-old Italian violin crafted by famed luthier Giovanni Battista Guadagnini.
Clarinettist Lloyd Van't Hoff on the musicians he met
Loading...Clarinettist Lloyd Van't Hoff, who won the competition in 2015, says that his biggest takeaway was making connections with other musicians.
Van't Hoff grew up in Charters Towers in Far North Queensland. Meeting a dedicated and inspiring music teacher when he was 11 changed his life.
His family moved to Brisbane so Van't Hoff could pursue tertiary studies at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music and the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) in Melbourne.
When he decided to audition for the Young Performers Awards, Van't Hoff was "really at a loss" after finishing his studies.
"I felt this expectation from my peers, teachers and family who had all invested in my musical education," he shares.
Even though Van't Hoff initially felt intimidated by the prospect of the competition, he gave it a go.
"[Luckily], I had all of this repertoire that felt pretty cozy," he says.
In 2015, most of the rounds took place in Tasmania.
Professional musicians collaborated with competitors on the semifinal chamber music rounds, and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra played with the grand finalists.
"A lot of the people I met during the competition were people who then opened doors for me."
He was invited to collaborate with more established ensembles such as the Flinders Quartet, and formed his own group, the Arcadia wind quintet.
Van't Hoff says there was "a tremendous sense of camaraderie" between the competitors of the Young Performers Awards.
"We're all friends for life," Van't Hoff says.
Flautist Eliza Shephard on the knock-on effects from winning
Loading...The most recent Young Performers Awards winner from 2022, flautist Eliza Shephard, is carving a path to be one of Australia's most exciting performers.
She's also an educator, improviser and recording artist.
"I'm loud and proud about my [love of] contemporary music," Shephard says.
Shephard's most influential teacher, Virginia Taylor, was herself a Young Performers Awards winner in 1988.
By the time Shephard entered the competition, she had already completed postgraduate studies at ANAM, as well as a four-month-long course in New York focusing on contemporary flute-playing technique, which influenced her repertoire choices.
While most musicians completed the competition within a year, Shephard's cohort had to navigate COVID-19 lockdowns and pandemic restrictions.
It turned the competition into "a long, drawn-out process", Shephard says.
To comply with the pandemic restrictions, the competitors had to be recorded and filmed performing to empty studios.
"I asked if I could have someone there just so it would feel like a performance," Shephard shares.
The ABC allowed each performer to bring a support person to their semifinal and grand final rounds, on the condition that they wouldn't interrupt the recording process.
Shephard's youngest sibling came to support her.
"They had to wear a mask, and they weren't allowed to clap," Shephard remembers.
"At the end of each piece, they used the Auslan sign for applause."
Shephard says the biggest lesson she learnt from the competition was how to showcase who she is as a musician through her repertoire choices, technique and curatorial ability.
Beyond the Young Performers Awards, Shephard has spearheaded the March of the Women, a recording project now entering its seventh year.
The project aims to increase the representation of female composers and championing female flute players.
Shephard recently commissioned six Australian female composers to write new music for her, enabled through the cash prize she received from the Young Performers Awards.
"A portion of my winnings went to help fund percentages of these commissions," Shephard says.
"The YPA [Young Performers Awards] had a big knock-on effect in my career, which is very amazing to sit and be with."
Entries are now open for the ABC Young Performers Awards for musicians 31 years and under.
EDITOR'S NOTE February 16, 2026: An earlier version of this article stated that percussionist Claire Edwardes spent the next seven years playing as a soloist with all of the symphony orchestras around Australia after winning the Young Performers Awards. This has been corrected to 27 years.