The Talent: 2025 Season 1 Finale

Jack Brunialti-Sykes is a young pianist and composer from Melbourne. He began his musical journey in 2019, when he was 8 years old. His curiosity and passion for classical music was immediately apparent.

In 2020 Jack entered and won his first music competition, Eisteddfod by the Bay. 

He was a member of the Victorian State Schools Spectacular Orchestra in 2021 and 2022. In 2023 and 2025, he was selected to play in the Percy Grainger Youth Orchestra.

In 2022, Jack successfully auditioned for Artology’s ‘To Country’ composition program, where his composition was performed by the Adelaide Youth Orchestra.

He is an active member in the local music community, regularly performing with the Southern Area Concert Band plus boosting morale in retirement homes on a regular basis.

Jack has recently been accepted into the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and is currently studying under the tutelage of Coady Green.

 

15-year-old violinist and composer Ellie Malonzo began violin at age five and studies under Winthrop Professor Paul Wright. At 12, she made her solo debut performing a violin concerto she was commissioned to write for the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra, and at 13, was accepted into the Yehudi Menuhin School. She has now performed as a soloist with the Wiener Stadtorchester (Vienna), the Mosman Symphony Orchestra (Sydney), the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, MetSO Chamber Orchestra, Vienna Pops Orchestra, and the Fremantle Chamber Orchestra. She will debut with the South Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Melbourne in 2025. Ellie has won first prize in sixteen international violin and composition competitions and placed in nine more over the last two years and at 14 was accepted to begin her Bachelor of Music full-time as an early entry student in 2025 at the University of Western Australia. Also a composer, she has written five concerti, two fugues and several shorter works, which have been performed around Australia and aired on ABC Classic.

Chris (Yuntong) began to study piano at the age of 5 in Qingdao, China, and reached the highest piano examination level (grade 10) for amateurs of the Chinese Music Association at the age of 10. He moved to Tasmania for high school in 2016, and held a performance art scholarship and the position of School Pianist in The Hutchins School, Hobart.

Now based in Melbourne, Chris is a graduated BMus (Honours) student at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music studying with Glenn Riddle. He has been awarded numerous prizes and scholarships inside and outside the campus. Besides, he was invited to perform for the open day event in Melbourne Government house in both January 2023 and 2024, and was able to perform personally for the governor of Victoria, Professor Margaret Gardner AC.