The Violin Channel: Interview with David Stern

The Violin Channel

The Violin Channel recently caught up with 2020 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition Co-Chairman, Mr. David Stern.

Applications for the 2020 competition are to be received by the 20th of January, 2020.

Hi David. Why was it important to the Stern family to be involved with this competition?

“Isaac Stern devoted his life to performance but also to helping young talent. He firmly believed in the hope of youth and the power of music to make a greater future for all civilizations.”

To read the full interview with David Stern, click here.

The Strad: Postcard From China

The Strad
Charlotte Smith

The second edition of the biennial Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition was a close-run affair. Judging from audience reactions post-performances, and from snippets of conversation here and there, three or four of the six female finalists might easily have taken the top accolade – and with it the eye-watering cash sum of $100,000.

Read more here.

Gramophone: Nancy Zhou Wins Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition

Gramophone
Martin Cullingford

The winner of the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition – which carries the highest monetary prize of any music competition of its type – has been won by American violinist Nancy Zhou.

Zhou, aged 25, receives US$100,000, as well as performance opportunities with a number of orchestras.

Second prize, and $50,000, went to Olga Šroubková from the Czech Republic, and third (worth $25,000) to Ukrainian Diana Tishchenko. Šroubková also won the prize for best performance of a Chinese work, Qigang Chen’s La joie de la souffrance. The jury included both performers and executives, including violinists Maxim Vengerov and Augustin Dumay, and artist manager Martin Campbell-White.

Read more here.

Nancy Zhou’s Final Round Performance with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra led by Michael Stern

Pizzicato: 35 Years of Shanghai Quartet: Beethoven forever

Pizzicato
Remy Franck

35 years ago, one of today's foremost chamber ensembles, the Shanghai Quartet, was formed at the Shanghai Conservatory. Since that year they have played around 3000 concerts and recorded 35 albums. Remy Franck met First violinist and founding member Weigang Li in his native Shanghai.

As many Chinese and, more generally, Asian violinists, you studied in the United States….

Yes, but I made the major part of my studies in China, if you don’t consider the fact that studying does never stop. I was born into a family of well-known musicians in Shanghai. Both of my parents were professional violinists and my maternal grand-father was also a violinist. He was born in 1908 and was one of the earliest professional classical violinists in China. I began studying the violin with my parents when I was five and went on to attend the Shanghai Conservatory at 14. Three years later, in 1981, when I was seventeen, I was chosen to go to study for one year at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music through a cultural exchange program between the sister cities of Shanghai and San Francisco. In 1985, I graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory and went on studying again – for my finishing touch – in the United States. But by then, we had already created the Quartet.

Your quartet played in the Stern competition, you having been replaced by a candidate. Was this important for your ensemble?

It is very important for the competition to have this chamber music round. For us it was enriching too. We had interesting ideas which were brought in by the contestants. For me, obviously, it was strange to sit in the Jury and not be part of the ensemble. It was even more astonishing, how flexible my colleagues were when one of the young candidates asked for something very unusual for us. I told myself: ‘Oh, they can do that’. And I am not sure, my colleagues would have agreed if I proposed such a point (laughs).

Read more here.

Pizzicato: Ahead of SISIVC: Remembering Isaac Stern…

Pizzicato
Remy Franck

A few days before leaving for Shanghai to attend the final of the Isaac Stern Violin Competition, impossible for me to not remember the only and highly memorable concert with Isaac Stern in Luxembourg. It took place in the early Seventies at the Grand Theatre with Music Director Louis de Froment conducting the RTL Symphony Orchestra and Isaac Stern playing the Brahms Violin Concerto. I remember an extraordinary spontaneous and dynamic performance with great textures from the solo violin and all the meaning and intensity the music deserved. Stern’s playing not only showed a great depth of understanding of the composer but also a stunning ability to translate the composer’s most personal meaning to the audience.

In 2018, with the second edition of the The Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition (SISIVC) one of Stern’s most important abilities – besides his musicality – is continued: the support of young musicians.

It is widely known that he helped Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman and Shlomo Mintz at the beginning of their career. As Peter Pastreich said in a tribute to Stern: « There were many other young music students who arrived in New York without friends or money who came to study with DeLay. Isaac found friends of his they could live with, sent them to his dentist at his expense, got them instruments and bows, and most important, listened to them play. Dorothy once said to me, ‘People know that when there’s any really talented kid, Isaac will want to know. He’ll always find time to listen. I love Isaac.' »

Read more here.

The Strad: $100,000 Shanghai Isaac Stern Competition Enters Semi-finals

The Strad

Twelve young violinists remain in contention for the biggest prize pot available in any competition, whittled down from the 36 invited to the live rounds.

Shanghai Isaac Stern Violin Competition 2018 semi-finalists and jury

The Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition has announced the 12 semi-finalists of its 2018 edition.

They are:

• Diana Tishchenko, Ukraine
• Alex Zhou, United States
• Arsenis Selalmazidis, Greece
• Chang Yuan Ting, Canada
• Nancy Zhou, United States
• Olga Šroubková, Czech Republic
• Quanshuai Li, China
• Jia Yi Chen, China
• Sophia Su, United States
• Yige Chen, China
• Yurina Arai, Japan
• Yun Tang, China

In total 36 candidates were invited to the live rounds, which started on 10 August, chosen by the pre-selection jury from 174 applicants.

The biennial competition, in its second edition, is offering a $100,000 top prize, $50,000 second prize and $25,000 third prize. A further $10,000 prize is offered for the best performance of a Chinese work – this year Qigang Chen’s La joie de la souffrance.

The first edition of the competition was won by Japanese violinist Mayu Kishima in 2016.

The semi-final round begins on Saturday 18 August with the string quartet session.

Watch: Mayu Kishima gives Shanghai Isaac Stern Violin Competition winning performance

2018 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition Launches

The success of the 2016 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition raised worldwide coverage, and, for the first time, demonstrated that a Chinese music competition is just as sophisticated as any other at the global level. The Organisation Committee held a press conference on August 8, 2018 to announce that the second edition of the competition will take place from then until September 1 in Shanghai. In addition, there was also a draw for the order of the quarter finalists.

Stellar Judging Panel

The Jury Committee has been expanded from thirteen to fifteen members, and features a star-studded lineup of pedagogues, violinists, and industry leaders to fairly evaluate the contestants in a variety of ways including technique, interpretation, and performing experiences.

The jury – co-chaired by conductor David Stern, son of Isaac Stern, and Professor Vera Tsu Weiling who has sat on the judging panels of many leading international violin competitions – is comprised of internationally-acclaimed violinists Maxim Vengerov and Augustin Dumay; leading figures of China’s violin industry Lina Yu and Siqing Lu; the founding member and first violinist of Shanghai Quartet, Weigang Li; the founding member of Emerson Quartet, Philip Setzer; the former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, Glenn Dicterow; and concertmaster of Munich Philharmonic Sreten Krstic. The jury also includes world-renowned pedagogues Zakhar Bron, Dora Schwarzberg, and Daniel Heifetz; and two industry veterans, the founding member of the classical artists management company Askonas Holt, Martin Campbell-White, and the current programming director of Philharmonie de Paris, Emmanuel Hondré.

Renowned Collaborative Musicians to Help Improve Musical Quality

David Stern at the SISIVC 2018 Opening Press Conference

The repertoire of this edition provides a greater focus on interpreting and understanding the musical spirit rather than merely technique, aiming to evolve the candidates from ‘soloists’ to ‘musicians.’

Additionally, the works include more diversified music styles and forms of performances. Each contestant will perform four sets of works during the Quarter-Finals. Then, for comprehensive assessment, the Semi-Finals will include even more diversified repertoire and consist of three sections – the string quartet in which contestants will perform with Yi-Wen Jiang, Honggang Li, and Nicholas Tzavaras from the Shanghai Quartet; sonatas and Kreisler’s works in which contestants will collaborate with invited young pianists Zhen Chen, Yingjia Xue, and Qiuning Huang; and a Mozart Concerto with an originally-composed cadenza. In addition to including a concerto of choice, which is conventional in competitions, the Final Round will include the violin concerto, La Joie de la Souffrance, by the renowned Chinese composer Qigang Chen, which was commissioned by SISIVC, among others. The piece will be conducted by David Stern, Music Director of Kansas City Symphony Orchestra and son of Isaac Stern.

Quarter-Finalist Order is Set, Contestants Getting Ready

Starting from the announcement of this edition’s competition on September 9, 2017 until the application deadline on January 31, 2018, the number of applicants increased by a large margin compared to the first edition. Over 90% of the applicants have won prizes from top-level competitions and more than half are students or graduates from international top-class music schools. Twenty-seven contestants from eleven countries and regions will participate in the Quarter-Finals.

The 27 SISIVC 2018 Quarter-Finalists drew traditional fans to determine performance order

It is widely agreed that the first edition of the Competition has established extensive awareness and influence on the classical music world for its professional competition system, prominent judges, fair selection, innovative schedule, outstanding contestants, and distinctive features, which lays the foundation for this edition.

The 2018 competition will once again seek nominations for the Isaac Stern Award – Human Spirit Award, which provides recognition to any individual from around the world who has made an outstanding contribution to humanity through the medium of music.

From Competition to a Professional Career on Bigger Stages

Besides the USD $100,000 prize presented to the champion, the largest music monetary prize of any music competition in the world, the Competition puts great effort on helping soloists become musicians over the long term on their road to professional musicianship. The Competition also introduces the winners to world-class agencies, recording opportunities, and facilitates collaborations with  top-level national and international orchestras such as the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic, Guangzhou Symphony, Melbourne Symphony, and Sydney Symphony, in order to open the door to a professional career and to provide them a bigger stage.

New Commission for the Final Round to Promote Chinese Music

This year’s competition will continue the tradition of spreading Chinese music, working together with China Pacific Insurance, the principal sponsor of the Stern Competition. La Joie de la Souffrance violin concerto by renowned Chinese composer Qigang Chen is a required work for the final round. It was specially planned by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and is co-commissioned by Beijing Music Festival, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

According to Chen, this work embraces both eastern and western cultures, dives in-depth into the meaning of life, and poses a great challenge to the performer’s ability to analyze and understand the music. By tapping into the global influence of the Competition, Chinese works such as this one have a chance to reach a wider audience - faster. Including a commission by a Chinese composer also embodies the concept of Chinese music as a more effective approach to communicating the Chinese culture with the rest of the world – the idea proposed by Long Yu, President of the Organization Committee, during the initial stages of the establishment of the competition.

To watch the #SISIVC2018 livestream, visit: http://shcompetition.amadeus.tv/ or https://www.facebook.com/shcompetition/ 

To learn more about the Shanghai Isaac Stern Violin Competition, visit: http://shcompetition.com/en/index.html 

Forbes: Isaac Stern's Pioneering Spirit Lives On Via Shanghai Event, $100,000 Prize

Forbes
Russell Flannery

American violinist Isaac Stern found friends and fans in China when he made pioneering visits to the country in its early reform days in the 1970s and 1980s. Though he died at age 81 in 2001, his spirit lives on in the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition, a bi-annual international violin competition to be held starting Aug. 10 with winners to be announced on Sept. 1. The $100,000 first prize is the largest in the world for a violin competition.

The event, which is being organized by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, will be held against a backdrop of growing interest in classical music in China, according to Long Yu, the event president and a top China maestro.

Read more here.

Quarterfinalists Announced for the 2nd Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition

The Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition (SISIVC) has announced the 36 quarterfinalists invited to participate in the live competition rounds in Shanghai beginning August 10, 2018. The candidates were chosen from a total of 174 applicants and hail from ten countries.

The chosen candidates will compete in three rounds over the course of three weeks for a grand prize of $100,000 – the largest monetary prize of any international music competition – with a second and third prize of $50,000 and $25,000, respectively. Additionally, a prize of $10,000 will be awarded for the best performance of the Chinese work – Qigang Chen’s La joie de la souffrance. Furthermore, in honor of Isaac Stern, $10,000 will be awarded as an Isaac Stern Prize to an individual – in any field and from any part of the world – who is deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to the understanding of humanity through music.

The fifteen-member jury of the Competition comprises esteemed violinists and pedagogues including co-chair David Stern ­(son of Isaac Stern), Maxim Vengerov, Daniel Heifetz, and Vera Tsu Weiling.

The candidates are as follows:

Yurina Arai, Japan
Marie Bégin, Canada
Jiayi Chen, China
Yige Chen, China
Ellinor D’Melon, Jamaica
Hiu Sing Fan, Hong Kong, China
Mone Hattori, Japan
Shucong He, China
Valerie Kim, United States
Alina Kobialka, United States
Miyeon Lee, South Korea
William Lee, Taiwan, China
Quanshuai Li, China
Po-Yu Lin, Taiwan, China
Ruifeng Lin, China
Zhen Liu, China
Petr Lundstrem, Russia
Ashley Park, United States
Diana Pasko, Russia
Eva Rabchevska, Ukraine
Arsenis Selalmazidis, Greece
Dmitry Smirnov, Russia
Ji Won Song, South Korea
Olga Šroubková, Czech
Sophia Su, United States
Anna Tanaka, Japan
Yun Tang, China
Chang Yuan Ting, Canada
Diana Tishchenko, Ukraine
Chieri Tomii, Japan
Jacqueline Tso, United States
Jiazhi Wang, China
Runyin Zhang, China
Alex Zhou, United States
Jin Zhou, China
Nancy Zhou, United States

About the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition

Founded in 2015, Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition (SISIVC) is Shanghai’s first world-class violin competition. The Competition takes its name from Isaac Stern to commemorate the musical spirit of Maestro Stern by which a young generation of musicians can be inspired and motivated.

Along with a grand prize of $100,000 USD ­– the highest monetary award of any international music competition, a jury of renowned artists and a unique performance process, the Competition leverages the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra platform with extensive resources around the world ­– including close cooperation with famous orchestras, such as China Philharmonic Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The Competition also provides promising contestants with great opportunities including arranging concert tours, album recording and introductions to world-class music agencies, enabling prosperous careers and encouraging winners to embrace their artistic dreams.

For more information on #SISIVC2018, please visit: www.shcompetition.com. Please follow SISIVC on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WeChat, Weibo and YouTube.

Pizzicato: Shanghai Isaac Stern Competition Announces Record Number of Applicants

Pizzicato

Organizers for the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition (SISIVC) announced that a total of 174 applicants have been submitted for this year’s edition, an increase of more than 22% from the inaugural competition in 2016 (142 applicants).

Applicants hail from 33 countries and regions, an increase of 27% from 2016 (26 countries and regions). The greatest area of growth, by a significant margin, was in non-Chinese applicants (65% growth vs. 2016). Applicant countries/regions this year include: Australia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Canada, China, Czech, Ecuador, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong (China), Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Libya, Malaysia, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan (China), Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.

More than 90% of the applicants for the 2018 SISIVC have won prizes in national and international competitions and most are graduates or are currently attending premier music schools and institutions.

For the full article, click here.