Estella Wallace to compose new piece for final Shostakovich: UNPACKED concert

The New Zealand String Quartet is proud to announce that Wellington-based composer Estella Wallace as the winner of the Finlayson Prize for Composition. 

Developed in partnership with Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music - Te Kōkī (NZSM) and SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music, and sponsored by the Hon. Christopher Finlayson, the prize invited composition students at NZSM to create new works inspired by or responding to the music of Dmitri Shostakovich. Wallace’s winning piece will be given its world premiere at the final concert of Shostakovich: UNPACKED, a four-part series commemorating the 50th anniversary of Shostakovich’s death. 

The Finlayson Prize is generously sponsored by Hon. Chris Finlayson, and includes prize money as well as a package of professional development opportunities provided by the NZSQ Trust and SOUNZ Centre for New Zealand Music. Conceived to give an emerging composer a meaningful leg-up, the prize aims to ensure that the new composition has a life beyond its premiere and to help strengthen the composer’s next steps in their career.  

At the premiere, taking place in both Nelson and Wellington, Wallace’s new work will be performed alongside two of Shostakovich’s most significant chamber works: the Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 and his moving Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147, the final piece he ever composed. 

About Estella Wallace

Ngāi Tahu

Estella is a Wellington-based composer currently completing her Bachelor of Music degree at the New Zealand School of Music. Originally from Christchurch, her passion for composition started at 14, thanks to her high school music teachers, and has gone on to write for a diverse range of ensembles with her music having been played in both New Zealand and the UK. She also plays the clarinet in addition to composing and occasionally enjoys playing her own works. In 2025, Estella wrote a duo for clarinet and piano titled Journeys for the Love Letterz concert curated by Cadence Chung as a part of the Kia Mau Festival where she featured on the clarinet part.

Estella has had numerous achievements as an emerging composer. She is the recipient of the 2022 SOUNZ-NZCF Te Reo Māori Choral Composition Competition Prize, 2025 Philip Neil Memorial Prize in Music, was a finalist in the 2025 Todd Young Composers Award and a winner of the 2025 NZTrio Composition Competition. In 2024 Estella was selected as the 2024 AWE Emerging Composer. She received 5 months of mentoring from Eve de Castro-Robinson, and her piece Lonely Peaks was premiered at the AWE Festival. In the same year, Estella was also invited to participate in the first ever APRA Classical Songhubs. A composition intensive which saw her collaborate with Oliver Brummah to compose two new works within the span of 5 days.

Music has always been Estella’s true passion. It has such incredible power and can be used to express so many different things. Estella enjoys using music to explore her whakapapa, Māori culture, Aotearoa’s landscapes, and relevant issues in our world today. She has also written piece for taonga puoro and numerous Māori choral works, she finds this is how she connects with her whakapapa and wants to continue to explore working with these mediums in the future.

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Hear Estella's piece live at Shostakovch: UNPACKED

Shostakovich: UNPACKED with Jian Liu Nelson Arts Festival

Tue, 28 Oct | Nelson Centre of Musical Arts

Celebrate Shostakovich fifty years after his death. Due to popular demand, we're bringing our exciting collaboration with Jian Liu to Whakatū Nelson as part of Nelson Arts Festival.

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Shostakovich Unpacked | NZSQ + Jian Liu

Tue, 25 Nov | Prefab Hall, Wellington

The artistic culmination of “Shostakovich: UNPACKED”, and the heart of the entire series. Award-winning pianist Jian Liu joins beloved NZSQ founding member, Gillian Ansell MNZN, in the very last work written by Dmitri Shostakovich.

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