Passion and discipline for the sweetest sound of all

"It's an amazing instrument, you can just pour your emotion into this instrument and produce what you feel," she says.

Kim, 24, has been doing just this since the age of four, and has fulfilled her mother's dream that at least one of her children would become a violinist.

"I have an older sister and a younger brother and she tried with them, but I had the most passion."

Her exceptional dedication was last night rewarded when she won second prize and a $20,000 scholarship for her performance in a competition at Melba Hall for the Dorcas McClean Travelling Scholarship.

Sujin Park, who won the competition, gave a performance the judges described as "striking" when she played Mozart's Concerto No. 3 in G Major and Paganini's Caprices No. 15 and No. 24.

"I love making music and I love listening to music, I just love anything to do with music," Park, 20, said. Her passion for the violin waned in her late teens, and she chose to study law and business administration at Macquarie University. But she soon began to miss music and realised she needed to return to the discipline.

An early start, discipline, talent and passion seem to be the requirements for becoming a top violinist as well as a family that encourages one's musical abilities. Each of three finalists began playing the violin when they were very young: Park at 6 (after two years of playing the piano), Kim at 4, Tessa Ho at 5.

They all have also been practising five to six hours a day in the approach to last night's competition.

"And that's just time spent with the violin," says Kim. "You keep thinking about the music you are going to play, and even when I go to sleep, I've been dreaming about it."

Kim, who played Mozart's Concerto No. 4 and Paganini's Caprices No 11 and No. 24 last night, would like to travel to the United States with her scholarship money, and her teacher has recommended that she study at New York's famed Juilliard School.

Ho, 20, who is studying for a Bachelor of Music at the University of Melbourne, performed Mozart's Concerto No. 5 in A Major, and Paganini's Caprices No. 1 and No. 23. She would like to travel to London and study at either the Royal Academy or the College of Music with her $10,000 scholarship for third place.

The travelling scholarships for violinists were established by the University of Melbourne in honour of one of Australia's most gifted musicians, Dorcas McClean. The scholarships are offered once every two years, and only about 15 to 18 people apply each time because the skill required is so high.