Ellie Malonzo

13-year-old Australian violinist Ellie Malonzo commenced her violin studies aged 5 and is fortunate to be studying under Winthrop Professor Paul Wright.

In a publication from the West Australian [newspaper] in October 2022, Ellie’s playing was described as ‘full in tone and brightly virtuosic’. Conductor John Keene also said in the same article - ‘I find myself realising every now and then that I am working with someone so young whose maturity, technical skill, and superb ear and musical sensibility belies her years as both performer and composer’.

Director of the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra, Hans Hug, described Ellie as an ‘accomplished violinist, on top of that, a composer, which is quite remarkable.’

In a feature article by Scoop, Ellie was labelled ‘one of the world’s leading upcoming violinists’, and her performance of her own composition in June 2023 was ‘another remarkable step towards an extraordinary solo career’. Ellie’s ‘exceptional virtuosity and masterful interpretation’ has been widely acclaimed, particularly in her recent performance with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

At the age of 13, after a rigorous audition process, Ellie was accepted into the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School in Surrey, England. The Yehudi Menuhin School, founded by the great violinist Yehudi Menuhin himself, is acclaimed internationally for nurturing ‘exceptional musical talent with a world class education – realising students’ potential, shaping UK and international culture.’

In September 2023, Ellie was interviewed by Megan Burslem and her compositions and interview were aired on ABC Classic’s broadest-reaching program, Classic Breakfast. She was featured on the ABC Classic website and on The Violin Channel, who described her success in composition and violin performance, stating that “Malonzo's style contains echoes of composers such as Vivaldi, Corelli, and Telemann”.

Ellie made her solo and concerto debut as a soloist with the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra under the baton of conductor John Keene on the 15th and 16th of October 2022, to two full audiences. Her performances were very successful, both being welcomed with a standing ovation. At 12 years of age, Ellie became the youngest soloist to have performed with the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra. She was also invited to perform at the Christmas Wish Fundraiser for Ukraine, where she performed solo Bach and Lysenko’s Romance.

In June 2023, Ellie performed again with the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra again, in the premiere of her own concerto for two violins, which she was fortunate to play with the esteemed Paul Wright. In the same concert, she performed Dvorak’s Romance in F Minor, and was welcomed multiple standing ovations. Her encore of the first movement of Ysaye’s second solo sonata was received with much success.

September 2023 saw Ellie perform Sinding’s Suite in the Old Style, Saint-Saens’ Danse Macabre and the third movement of her own double violin concerto with distinguished soloist Ronald Thomas AM, under the baton of Sara Duhig. Her performance and encore were successfully well received by an almost sold-out audience.

In October 2023, she performed Paganini’s Caprice No. 8 in the Paganini Relay organised by Cygnus Arioso and will be a member of the Cygnus Arioso Summer String Orchestra Project, along with university students from prestigious institutions such as ANAM and musicians from professional orchestras around Australia.

At the age of 10, Ellie was awarded an A+ (high distinction) and the state excellence award for her comprehensive grade 8 violin exam through the Australian Music Examination Board. The same year, Ellie was invited to play as part of the Finland Children’s Orchestra on a tour from Finland to Dusseldorf. Unfortunately, due to the unfolding COVID-19 situation, the tour was cancelled.

A year later, she was awarded the position of Concertmaster in the Western Australian Youth Orchestra’s Philharmonic Orchestra, where she performed the prolific concertmaster solo in the Khachaturian Masquerade Suite (Nocturne).

In 2021, Ellie placed 1st in the North of Perth Music Festival and 2nd in the Fremantle Eisteddfod Under 15s Concerto Category. In 2022, Ellie won first prize in the under 13’s recital section for the Fremantle Eisteddfod, where she was awarded a mark of 100 for her performance.

In 2022 alone, Ellie won 1st prize in the American Music Talent Competition, 1st Prize in the Brisbane International Youth Music Festival, 1st place in the Kings Peak International Music Competition, 1st Prize in the London International Music Competition, 1st prize in the London Classical Music Competition, 1st prize in the May Classical Music International Youth Music Competition, 1st prize in the 14th International Competition ‘Luigi Cerritelli’, 1st prize in the Melbourne International Strings and Piano Festival and grand prize in the Red Maple International Music Competition. She was also awarded 2nd prize in the Radda Rise International Strings and Piano Festival, 2nd prize in Euterpe Music Awards, 3rd prize in the BTHVN Wien International Competition, 3rd Prize in the Singapore International Music Competition and 2nd prize in the American Classical Young Musicians Award. She won 1st prize in the June Composition International Youth Music Competition 2022 and achieved highly commended in the Inaugural Student Composition Challenge held by Women in Music Festival 2019, at the age of 9. In the International Youth Music Competition Artist of the Year, Ellie was the 2nd Runner-Up out of all disciplines.

In March 2023, Ellie was awarded 1st Prize in the acclaimed Caneres International Music Competition, resulting in an invitation to compete in the Grand Finale live in Vienna, but due to a change in circumstances, it will now be held online. In April 2023, at 13 years of age, Ellie was awarded the overall 1st prize for strings in the Brisbane International Youth Music Competition. She was competing against string players up to the age of 25 years around the world. This win will enable her to participate in overseas masterclasses and performance opportunities through the competition in the coming years. Ellie was also selected to be a participant in the prestigious 2023 Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) Academy. She is excited to travel to Sydney in July to perform in the Academy’s Chamber Orchestra lead by esteemed ACO violinist Aiko Goto. She was recently awarded 1st place in the Amadeus International Music Awards for 2023.

Ellie was shortlisted individually as part of the renowned Leonid Kogan International Violin Competition to take part in a masterclass with esteemed Belgian violinist, Karen Aroutiounian in June 2023. Aroutiounian has worked under some of the most historically influential violinists, including Leonid Kogan and Sir Yehudi Menuhin. Following this, she was awarded a jury special mention in the competition. She has also had lessons with the Royal Academy of Music’s violin and chamber music professor Alex Redington, the first violinist of the critically acclaimed Doric String Quartet.

Ellie has been invited to perform at the DiMenna Centre for Classical Music in New York after winning the May Classical Music International Youth Music Competition for 2022 and at the Tribute Communities Recital Hall in Toronto, Canada after winning grand prize in the 2022 Red Maple Music Competition. She was also awarded 1st prize in the June Composition International Youth Music Competition, and subsequently was invited to the 2023 winner’s recital in New York, where she had the opportunity to arrange a performance of her composition but was unable to due to COVID-19 and travel disruptions.

A multi-faceted musician, Ellie is also a dedicated composer. At 6, she began composing for chamber ensembles, and wrote the first movement of a concerto for violin and string orchestra at the age of 7. Ellie has since finished that concerto and written another for violin and chamber orchestra, as well as a double violin concerto and many shorter works including two fugues (one for organ and another for three violins), four aphorisms and a ground bass, a short work for piano, and a German art song for piano and soprano). Ellie has had many of her compositions workshopped by professional musicians around Western Australia such as James Ledger and Emma Jayakumar. At the age of 12, Ellie was commissioned to write a work for the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra, which was successfully premiered on the 15th and 16th of October, with Ellie as the soloist. She is currently working on various future commissions for ensembles in Western Australia. She is mentored by organist and composer Holly Broadbent and Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA)’s senior lecturer, Stewart Smith.

Forthcoming highlights of the 2024 season include Ellie’s performance with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in February with Ronald Thomas AM in Bach’s Double Violin Concerto, as well as her performance at Government House Ballroom of Wieniawski’s Polonaise Brilliante in A Major. She looks forward to making her solo debut in Sydney with the Mosman Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Andrew Del Riccio on March the 16th and 17th, where she will be performing her own violin concerto in A Major as well as Dvorak’s Romance in F Minor. Later in the year, she will be performing Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto in D Minor with the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra and is greatly anticipating the premiere of another of her compositions, commissioned for performances in October 2024.

Ellie is fortunate to play on a fine Italian violin – a Joseph Panormo instrument made in 1787 and plays with two French bows.

Ellie balances her busy concert schedule with her year 10 studies at a fully academically selective school, where she has been recognised as the top student in Humanities and Science. She was accelerated a year and has been offered the opportunity to further her studies in history at Curtin University, studying units from a history degree whilst still at school.

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