COMPETITOR
ASHANI WAIDYATILLAKE

Due to a change in competition dates, Ashani is unable to take part.

Ashani Waidyatillake is 16 years old and is currently studying at the New Zealand School of Music. In recent years, her major accolades include: winning the New Zealand Youth Piano Competition, enabling her to play a duet with Lang Lang; first prize at the Wallace National Junior Piano Competition 2018; semi-finalist in the Wallace National Piano Competition 2019; her debut concerto performance with Bach Musica; and participating in the Curtis Institute of Music Summerfest, as a full scholarship recipient. In 2019, Ashani was invited to the International Akaroa Music Festival as a guest performer, and also participated in the NZ International Young Artists Festival. In August 2019, Ashani attended the Semaine International de Piano et Music de Chambre Blonay Festival in Switzerland, on a full scholarship. She is one of the winners of the 2020 Christchurch National Concerto Competition where she played Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Ashani also enjoys chamber music and was the pianist in Trio Espoir which won the 2018 Auckland District Round of the NZCT Secondary Schools Chamber Contest. At the finals, Trio Espoir was awarded the Joan Kerr Gold Award. She was the pianist in the quintet, Delamere, which won the 2019 Auckland District Round, as well as the Northern Regional Round, of the 2019 NZCT Secondary Schools Chamber Contest. Ashani is also an accomplished violinist.