how persistent do you need to be?

When I was a child, I took piano lessons from the same teacher as my friend Sally.

Sally was serious about her music. While I focussed almost exclusively on not butchering Jessica’s Theme from The Man from Snowy River, and had a secret crush on Justin Cotta from our musicianship class, Sally devoured Brahms and Bach and Chopin - by memory. 

I’d inevitably been so wrapped up in the Henderson Kids or Neighbours that I'd madly copy Sally’s music theory homework in the waiting room before our lesson while she drummed her fingers on the coffee table - eyes shut, mentally rehearsing a concerto – miles away.

At school, while the rest of us lay on the grass discussing Kirk Cameron and Rick Astley, Sally spent her lunch times in the chapel, practising the organ.  She took up bassoon and joined the motet choir, the orchestra, the baroque ensemble ...

Most people thought it was kind of uncool at the time – how focussed she was. How driven. How passionate. 

What about Kirk?  What about Rick?  The only thing Sally was 'never gonna give up' was her classical music...

Fast forward to uni and she went to the Sydney Conservatorium.  She also came out, cut her long hair short, dyed it blue and got a couple of tattoos.  She performed cabaret in Oxford Street nightclubs and danced in the Mardi Gras. 

As long as I’ve known her, Sally has been unfailingly true to herself.  It's the quality I most admire in her.

Being a classical musician at high school in the 80s must have been hard, but her music meant more to her than other people’s opinions. Perhaps this prepared her for the journey she’s taken since then, down roads less travelled - following her heart, feeding her passion, pushing through obstacles and working harder than anyone I know to get where she wants to be...

It's twenty years since those days when Sally went against the grain and relentlessly practised in the school chapel. Last week, she won the ARIA for ‘Best Classical Album’.   

Mad Rush (the music of Phillip Glass) had been called a ‘surprise hit’ – it’s been up near the top of the classical charts for much of the year. Hot on the heels of that success, Sally has been signed by ABC Classics for a second solo album, featuring the music from that beautiful and quirky movie, Amelie...

Now it's Sally who’s playing the film themes, this time to critical acclaim and she's partying with music stars like one of the cool people, because she is one...

Congratulations, my friend.  Thanks for reminding us what’s possible if you're true to yourself and prepared to do what it takes to succeed with the thing you love.