The Music Teachers’ Association of NSW, Newcastle Committee, presents the 2026 Newcastle Piano Scholarship, on August 29, 2026.

Open to Piano students residing in the Newcastle, Hunter, Upper Hunter, Central Coast, Mid-North Coast or New England Regions of NSW, will be held at the Adamstown Uniting Church.

1.00pm The Newcastle MTA Junior Piano Scholarship is open to students who are currently studying and presenting works from 3rd or 4th Grade AMEB, or, equivalent standard or level.

• Performer Entry $15
• Audience Child 12 and under: FREE
• Audience Student 13-18 years: $5 
• Audience Adult: $10 
• MTA teacher: FREE

2.30pm The Newcastle MTA Intermediate Piano Scholarship is open to students who are currently studying and presenting works from either 5th, 6th or 7th Grade AMEB, or equivalent level or standard.

• Performer Entry $20
• Same audience prices as above

4.15pm The Newcastle MTA Senior Piano Scholarship is open to students who are currently studying and presenting works from AMEB Grade 8, AMEB Certificate of Performance or AMEB Diploma (Associate or Licentiate), or equivalent repertoire standard to these levels listed.

• Performer Entry $25
• Same audience prices as above

For full Terms and Conditions visit Piano Scholarship

Bookings for the Piano Scholarship open on Friday 24 July and close on Friday 21 August.

Adjudicator

Justine Ray is a highly regarded piano teacher and music educator with 30 years of teaching experience, holding a Bachelor of Music (Performance) and a Master of Music. As Director and Founder of MAJIC Music Studio in Sydney, she currently teaches across the full spectrum of piano study, from Preliminary through to LMusA level, in addition to music theory, including AMEB Theory of Music and Musicianship, and HSC Music 1, Music 2 and Extension programs.

Justine has held piano teaching positions at several of Sydney's leading independent schools, including Reddam House, Sydney (current), as well as Cranbrook School, Presbyterian Ladies' College Sydney, and The Scots College. She has served as an AMEB Keyboard Examiner for many years, was named among AMEB's Top 10 Piano Teachers in NSW in 2019, 2021, and 2023, and AMEB's Top 5 Written Subjects Teachers in NSW in 2024, and most recently received the AMEB Teaching Award for Most Outstanding Private Teacher (Preliminary to Licentiate) in 2025.

Her students have gone on to pursue further study at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, achieve piano scholarships at independent schools, and attain consistent success at the Sydney, St George, and Ryde Eisteddfods. Many have also been finalists and prize winners in national and international competitions. Justine's teaching is distinguished by its emphasis on rigorous technical foundations nurtured alongside each student's individual musicality.