Scotch College

Max Foster Wins ABC and Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Award

An interview with Max Foster

Max Foster (Year 11) has won the prestigious ABC and Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year Award. In the competition final at Hamer Hall on 19 September, Max played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No 1, receiving a standing ovation from the capacity audience, and won $20,000. He also won a further scholarship prize of $25,000, which is to be used for further studies overseas. In this interview with Max, Scotch’s Director of Music, John Ferguson, posed the questions.

John Ferguson: Tell us about your early life.

Max Foster: I was born in Brisbane, and began piano at the age of four at Forte School of Music, a private music school for young players.

JF: When did you realise that the piano was going to become a major part of your life?

MF: My dad sent me to the Queensland Conservatorium of Music when I was eight, so I suppose my parents must have thought I had some ability.

JF: Who was your teacher at the conservatorium?

MF: Jenny Flemming. She was excellent, and she took me to the next level, and I started entering competitions.

JF: What were your early competition successes?

MF: I regularly achieved places in the Queensland Piano Competition, and later I won the national Petrov competition.

JF: How did you meet your current teacher, Rita Reichman?

MF: Well, I was looking for places to go and found the Australian National Academy of Music’s website, and I saw that Rita was the head of piano there. Coincidentally, she came to the Queensland Conservatorium to give a master class in which I was participating, and we discussed the idea of me visiting her in Melbourne for some lessons. This led to me gaining a place in the junior academy at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM), and I came to Scotch in 2006 to focus on my piano studies at Scotch and at the Academy.

JF: What made you choose Scotch?

MF: Ninety per cent of it, quite frankly, was the music facilities. Dad and I had never seen anything like it! It was better than the Con, and anything we had ever seen.

JF: And the other 10%?

MF: Mr Ferguson, of course! As well as the beautiful grounds and the great boarding house.

JF: I know you have another year to go, but have you enjoyed Scotch?

MF: I have definitely enjoyed my time at Scotch so far. I love the boarding house, and being able to practise on a really good piano in a focused musical environment; and also, the teachers are great!

JF: What have been some of the highlights of Scotch?

MF: Going to the specialist music school in Shanghai, the piano festivals, and performing the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto at Foundation Day.

JF: The environment at ANAM must have been very stimulating. Can you tell us a little about it?

MF: It is small and intimate, and there are always people that I have been able to look up to. The exposure to international artists and the performance opportunities have been wonderful.

JF: The Young Performer of the Year, or YPA as it tends to be known among musicians, is regarded by many as the Holy Grail of competitions in Australia. How did you find the experience of competing through the various rounds?

MF: I found them very stimulating. There was an exhilarating feeling to have to work so hard to improve and perform at each successive level – it was oddly enjoyable!JF: And the feeling of winning?

MF: I felt the same as I did when I finished the concerto that night – the great applause – a feeling of absolute joy and anticipation.

JF: We know Max the muso, but what about other interests?

MF: It’s a great blessing to be in the boarding house because it gives me time and opportunity to talk to friends when I’m not practising. I love to read and kick the soccer ball, and I still enjoy swimming.

JF: So, you’ve won the competition, completed VCE music; what next?

MF: First of all I have the winner’s recital at the Sydney Opera House on 30 November. I will play a recital of Schumann, Mozart, Chopin and Bach. I have some engagements with Orchestra Victoria in February, including Ravel’s Piano Concerto, and a number of other engagements that are still to be finalised.

JF: How about other competitions?

MF: There is the London International Piano Competition next year, and there is also the Leeds, but I think I’ll leave that one for a few years!

JF: Have you considered where you would like to study next?

MF: I would like to study in the USA at the Curtis Institute. However, there are the Royal Academy and Royal College in London. Quite honestly, it is where I can get in!

JF: You must have been devastated when the news came about the government’s decision to close ANAM.

MF: I definitely was. It’s a place for me and others to connect with like-minded musicians, and a place where I can live and speak music. It is tragic that it is to close.

JF: Thank you, Max. GS