During the week from January 8 the 17-year-old flautist and student at Camden Haven High School worked with esteemed educator Brian Buggy OAM in the Tchaikovsky ensemble, which was the most senior orchestra at SYO Summer School.

Lillibet said she was initially nervous when she started the week but gradually became more comfortable as she got to know the other musicians. 

When she first arrived Lillibet was thrown in the deep end, as she had to audition. 

“I wasn’t aware we had to audition and I only had an hour to practice the music before I had to play,” she said. 

However Lillibet said the experience will help her in the lead up to her final schooling year where she plans to study music as part of her HSC. 

She said she will stay in touch with friends she made from Sydney those from the Mid North Coast including a clarinetist from Taree. 

Lillibet comes from a musical family. 

“I have two older sisters and two parents who covered playing most instruments,” she said. 

“As I was the youngest and no one played the flute I thought I would take that up.” 

Lillibet was one of 230 young musicians who came together at St Mary’s Cathedral College to learn from some of Australia’s best music educators.

Musicians came from all over NSW, including the Riverina, North Coast, Mid North Coast, Central West, Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Illawarra, Southern Tablelands, Southern Highlands, as well as the Greater Sydney Region.

The week culminated in a sold-out concert at Verbrugghen Hall within The Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

The Tchaikovsky ensemble performed excerpts from Handel Music for the Royal Fireworks, Sibelius Symphony No. 2 and Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5.

Lillibet said it was a dream come true to play music which she loves to listen to. 

“That orchestral atmosphere when a variety of instruments come together, is something which is very special,” she said. 

Lillibet hopes to pursue music as a career. 

“Ideally I’d like to help people through using music as therapy,” she said.