About the artists

Cedar Newman is a young Australian violinist studying at the Manhattan School of Music with Prof. Lucie Robert and is grateful to be supported by the President's Scholarship. Her violin studies began with Sarah Hindson, in Australia, who nurtured a love of performance and continued with Albert Markov in the United States. Cedar has also worked with Laurie Carney (American String Quartet) and participated in masterclasses with, among others, Mr Harada (Tokyo Quartet), Prof. Mihaela Martin, and Paul Huang. She has played with orchestras and chamber ensembles and has performed as a soloist in Australia, North America, and Europe. Her most recent accolade was being accepted to the Enger Academy in Frankfurt (May 2025), where she received the Troussov Award. While drawn to all forms, she has a passion for violin and piano repertoire, stemming from her years of piano study with Gian-Franco Ricci. In 2023 and 2024, this led to recitals with Australian pianist Simon Tedeschi and in 2024 with Calvin Abdiel.  

Cedar was first drawn to the violin by listening to her Aunt play Vivaldi and Bach on her great-grandmother’s violin, which she now performs on. She is grateful for Jason Catlet's loan of a nineteenth – century French bow. Cedar is known to Canberra audiences through performances with the Highlands Music Collective and a recital performance last year at the Belgian Embassy. 

Outside of music, Cedar is drawn to being in nature, and this environment informs her music practice.

Rio Xiang is a laureate of many international and national competitions. His most recent success was winning 2nd prize and the Jenny Houlihan Special Prize for the best performance of a Haydn Sonata at the prestigious Australian National Piano Award in October of 2024.

Rio has also performed in many concerts in Sydney and overseas, including at the Aspen Music Summer Festival (USA), the Lake Como International Piano Summer School (Italy), the Shanghai International Music Festival and the Art of the Piano Music Festival in Cincinnati. Orchestras he has performed with include: Xiamen Orchestra, Beijing Huanzhou Orchestra, Minnesota Symphony, Uzbekistan Symphony, Queensland Symphony, Geelong Symphony Orchestra, and the Sydney Conservatorium. He has performed under conductors such as Roger Benedict and Gerard Schwartz. 

Rio has made recordings for ABC Classic FM Radio Station and Sydney Fine Music Radio Station.

Rio is completing a Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he has been studying with Natalia Ricci for the duration of his degree. From 2017 to 2019, Rio was enrolled in the Undergraduate Performance Diploma program at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, studying piano with Stanislav Loudenitch. Rio’s main composition training took place with Richard Gill from 2014 until 2019. Rio has written many works for piano and other instruments and continues to pursue his passion for improvisation and composition alongside his career as a concert pianist.. 

• Performance begins at 2pm (no interval). Doors open at 1:45pm

• Chat with the Rio and Cedar after the concert - 'meet the artist'

• Parking (free):
  on-site for 5 cars; 
  overflow parking on-street in dedicated parking lane on Namatjira Drive;
  additional parking at Chapman Oval on Tauchert St (approx 500m).

• Public transport:
  Buses 70 & 71 (Woden-Tuggeranong via Cooleman Court); 64 (Woden-Weston Creek)
  Closest bus stops are 1269 & 1264 (on Namatjira Drive).