The trio of Jocelyn Ho, Vatche Jambazian and Jee-Yong Kim produced stellar performances during the year to make the contenders list for the prestigious biennial Australian National Piano Award.

All three performed up to four recitals, with the jury assessing technical mastery, style,
and emotional and intellectual interpretations.

The repertoire for the finals included works by Beethoven, Bach, Schubert and Debussy, and ranges across Baroque, Classical, 19th century Romantic and French Impressionist music styles, as well as contemporary works, including an Australian composition.

Performances were all before live audiences at the Eastbank Centre in Shepparton, Victoria, with the grand final taking place on 11 September 2010.

Neil Werner OAM, President of the ANPA and members of the ANPA Board announced Jocelyn Ho as the winner of the 2010 10th Anniversary Award. She won First Prize of $20,000, as well as a recording prize with Master Performers (in Brisbane) at a time of her choice and best music performance of Haydn, Mozart or Beethoven ($1,000).

Vatche Jambazian won best music performance of Chopin ($1,000).

Ho, 28, of Kingsgrove, completed a Masters of Music at The Con, studying the piano rolls of Debussy. She is now pursuing a doctorate at Stony Brook University in New York.

Jambazian, 23, of Castle Hill, is undertaking a Bachelor of Music Degree (Honours) at The Con, under the guidance of Natalia Sheludiakova, a Con lecturer and a doyen of four hands piano duets.

Kim, 23, of Carlingford, completed his Master of Music Performance at The Con last year and is now a doctorate candidate.

Ho, who started playing the piano when she was five and finished third in the 2008 Award finals, still remembers her first piano, which was donated by a family friend.

"It was really tattered, all scratched on the outside and the keys were yellow," she commented.

"With other instruments maybe you can do one or two voices, but with the piano you have 10 fingers. You can kind of evoke the whole orchestra."

Kim, like Ho, has a strong interest in numbers and maths. Before seriously studying music he earned a degree in Actuarial Studies.

Jambazian was a semi-finalist in the Russian Music International Competition last year, having won the 2MBS Young Performers Award in 2008.

He is quoted as saying that he "craves the piano for breakfast every morning. Rehearsals are not a stress for me. I love it."