Our second print edition is about to make its way across Australia! As we prepare, we bring you our showcase of talented emerging arts journalists who have come together to share some incredible stories about the new generation of composers, performers, and arts administrators.
Born in Singapore, Celine Chong migrated to Brisbane in 2004 with her family, beginning piano lessons in her new home country that same year. Now having commenced her tertiary studies in music, Celine is using her wide variety of skills and interests to forge a unique career.
Celine gained her Associate of Music diploma (AMusA) from Australian Music Examinations Board when she was 15, and is an alumna of the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University’s Young Conservatorium Program. There, she studied piano with Angela Turner, and was a frequent performer in Young Conservatorium Concerts. Highlights of her time in the program include performing at the first Australian Piano Duo Festival, being selected to perform at the festival’s closing gala concert, and being a finalist for the Nora Baird Keyboard Prize.
Reflecting her interests, Celine has been honing her skills in as many areas as possible, winning prizes for both piano performance and academia. This includes Academic Merit and Music Merit scholarships from the University of Queensland, and various prizes from the Queensland Piano Competition and English Teachers Association of Queensland. Her passion for chamber music led her to participate in the Advanced Winterschool Program at the 2017 Australian Festival of Chamber Music. Through various masterclasses, workshops and lessons, she has worked with internationally acclaimed pianists Jayson Gillham, Orli Shaham, and Sergio Tiempo.
As an emerging voice in Australian arts journalism, Celine was chosen as the winner of the 2017 CutCommon Young Writer of the Year competition. Since then, she has thrived in her work for CutCommon, regularly conducting interviews, writing features, and reviewing live performance events; leading to her new role as Lead Writer (Queensland). In 2018, she also contributed an article to CutCommon’s first printed edition and her work with the publication is now reaching audiences in Australia and across the globe.
Using her diverse skillset, Celine aspires to have a portfolio career in music, particularly in performance, teaching, music journalism, and arts administration. She is currently a student at the University of Queensland, completing a Bachelor of Music (Honours) in Piano Performance with Dr Anna Grinberg, and a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English.
Read Celine in our print issue #2! You can catch up on our inaugural print magazine, which is now available online only for a limited time.
