The orchestra, conducted by Dean Hollebon, will accompany Ozan as he performs Haydn’s sunny Piano Concerto in D Major during the concert, to be held from 3pm on Sunday at Hanover Hall. The concert will also feature Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5, and Hardiman’s Lord of the Dance.
The Logan Park High School year 10 pupil has learned the piano since he was about 3 years old with his father Tom McGrath, a piano and chamber music tutor at the University of Otago School of Performing Arts.
"There has always been music in the house, so it is a very natural thing," Ozan said.
"We have a lovely grand piano at home and watching my sister Ayla[now 17] having lessons with our dad made me really want to do it too."
Ozan has been performing in concerts for years, taking part in Dunedin Performing Arts Competitions Society events from a young age, and also playing the piano at Mornington Church. A member of the Dunedin Youth Orchestra, he recently won the Institute of Registered Music Teachers Otago branch scholarship.
He has also taken part in chamber music competitions in two groups — one with his sister Ayla on clarinet, and in a Logan Park group with Karuna and Savarna Yang.
Ozan first began working on the Haydn concerto more than a year ago, after he decided to play the piece as his entry in the Dunedin Concerto Competition, held in March, with his father accompanying on a second piano.
"It was a fantastic experience to play alongside my dad and so many other musicians in the concerto competition.
"I really enjoyed it," he said.
Ozan said Haydn was "an amazing composer", whose works were often overshadowed by his contemporaries Mozart and Beethoven, but his music was lovely and enjoyable to play.
Learning to play the concerto from memory had been a long process, starting with learning the notes over the summer of 2021-22. He then "put it down" for six months, so as not to over-rehearse the work, before picking it back up and polishing it for the concerto competition.
"This piano concerto is a three-movement, 20-minute piece, which is full of beautiful moments."
In recent weeks, Ozan has played the concerto in rehearsals with the Collegiate Orchestra, finding the larger sound of the orchestra an exciting shift.
"The first time, I got a bit of a shock, but soon got into it — it is great fun," he said.
"Having the sound of the orchestra all around you, and all those people on stage supporting you, is really nice."
