06/01/2026
And the results are in!
Gordon C. Wallis and Lyell Gustin Memorial Scholarship Competition Results
The Gordon C. Wallis and Lyell Gustin Competitions were held Saturday, May 30th in Saskatoon at Emmanuel Anglican Church. We began with the Wallis Competition, Performer’s Category, at 9:15 am. Esther Zhu, a student of Kathleen Solose, took first place in the competition and was awarded a $1000.00 scholarship. Nirvan Sharma and Van Kong tied for second place. Our adjudicator, Linda Kundert, felt that the programmes were very well played and both deserved the second-place scholarship. Nirvan Sharma is a student of Bonnie Nicholson and Van Kong studies with Lynn Ewing.
Gustin Competition took place in the afternoon with six competitors. Despite the heat in the sanctuary, the performances were beautiful. Our adjudicator was most impressed with the level of performance. Andrew Liu, a student of Janice Elliott-Denike of Regina, was awarded first place and the Gustin Trounce Committee scholarship for $500.00.
Gregory Schulte, an original member of the committee and a former Gustin pupil presented the award. He mentioned some advice of Dr. Gustin: “Before you rest a piece after a performance, mend it”. This reinforced our adjudicator’s comments about how to maintain one’s repertoire.
Second place and the $300.00 SRMTA Gustin Memorial Award was presented to Boaman Liu, a student of Bonnie Nicholson. Branch President, Lynn Ewing, presented the Saskatoon Branch Gustin Memorial Award for $100.00 to April Shi, another student of Bonnie Nicholson.
