WHEN Emily-Kate Downie was just six years old, her grandfather handed her a clarinet.
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A natural musician, she picked it up immediately and now, as a Year 12 student at Wollondilly Anglican College, Emily-Kate is on her way to New York.
She was one of 75 people chosen from an international pool of applicants to perform in the 2009 International Honors Wind Symphony.
“I went to music practice one day and my teacher said I needed to do some recording for a competition he wanted me to enter,” Emily-Kate said.
“I had no idea it’d be this huge.”
A self confessed perfectionist, Emily-Kate re-recorded her audition tape dozens of times, but it was well worth the effort.
Next May she will spend a week of intensive training and rehearsals followed by a grand scale concert at the Lincolin Centre in Juliard.
“I perform in various orchestras and attend music camps but I’ve never done anything like this,” she said.
“The expectations are massive so I’ll be putting a lot of practice in before then.”
For the full story see the Southern Highland News, Friday, August 29
claire.mitchell@ruralpress.com
