This week on The Talent, Kyla Matsuura-Miller and Kevin Tamanini are joined by Ben Messenger to hear performances from Claire Xu (horn) and Avi Anchan (piano). The performers will receive feedback and be interviewed live on air! Keep reading to find out more.
Claire Xu
Horn
Claire Xu is a 14-year-old horn player from Melbourne currently studying at Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak. She received her LmusA and has won first prize in many local eisteddfods this year.A highlight of her musical journey was playing the Schumann Concertstück for four horns, which was her first time playing with orchestra accompaniment in 2025. With her music, Claire hopes to inspire others young girls to take up the French Horn and she hopes that they will enjoy it as much as she does.
Claire will perform:
- Mozart—Horn Concerto No.4 in E-flat Major (mvt. I)
- Glière—Horn Concerto in B flat Major (mvt. III)
With associate artist Chris Nankervis
Avi Anchan
Piano
Avi Anchan is a 15-year-old pianist at John Monash Science School. He began studying music at the age of 5, and since then he has also picked up the violin. He studies piano under Donny Chen and has achieved many awards, including an Honourable Mention from the 2026 Ringwood Eisteddfod. Avi particularly enjoys playing and listening to works by Mendelssohn, specifically his Lieder ohne Worte.
Ben Messenger
Guest Mentor
Ben is an orchestral and chamber horn player who is a member of Orchestra Victoria in Melbourne. Originally from Brisbane, Ben studied horn under Peter Luff at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, graduating in 2012. He then attended the Australian National Academy of Music and was part of the Fellowship program with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2016. He has travelled Australia as a freelance musician, working with the QSO, MSO, SSO, WASO, ASO, Hong Kong Philharmonic and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra before joining Orchestra Victoria as a permanent musician last year.