Ludwig van: Azrieli Foundation Announces New Call For Proposals From Orchestras
The Azrieli Foundation has announced a call for proposals for a brand new funding stream within its Azrieli Music Prizes (AMP) program.
The Azrieli Music Prizes Performance Fund (AMP-PF) is a new and annual funding stream that offers support for professional ensembles to prepare and perform works that have won the Azrieli Music Prize. Orchestras that receive funding would perform the AMP winning works in their 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons.
Ludwig Van
Anya Wassenberg
The Azrieli Foundation has announced a call for proposals for a brand new funding stream within its Azrieli Music Prizes (AMP) program.
The Azrieli Music Prizes Performance Fund (AMP-PF) is a new and annual funding stream that offers support for professional ensembles to prepare and perform works that have won the Azrieli Music Prize. Orchestras that receive funding would perform the AMP winning works in their 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons.
According to a media release, the AMP-PF has been established to provide performance opportunities for the works that have won the Azrieli Music Prize, representing an important next step for new compositions.
The Foundation is accepting proposals from orchestras to request support ranging from $5,000 CAD to $25,000 CAD. The funding is intended to help orchestras with the nuts and bolts of preparing for a performance, including score rentals, soloist fees, rehearsal time, and promotions. Funding can also be requested in order to host the AMP Laureates at the concerts of their own prize-winning works.
To read more about AMP’s new call for proposals, click here.
The Strad: Postcard From China
The 2018 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition showcased so many impressive performances that the scoring was a s tight as could be. Charlotte Smith attended the finals.
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
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.
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
The Strad: $100,000 Shanghai Isaac Stern Competition Enters Semi-finals
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.
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
International Piano: Call for submissions – New Music • New Video
The Anderson & Roe Piano Duo has announced the New Music • New Video composition competition. The duo is seeking new works for piano duo – either for two pianos or for one piano, four-hands – of up to five minutes, to feature in a fully produced Anderson & Roe music video.
International Piano
Lucy Thraves
The Anderson & Roe Piano Duo has announced the New Music • New Video composition competition.
The duo is seeking new works for piano duo – either for two pianos or for one piano, four-hands – of up to five minutes, to feature in a fully produced Anderson & Roe music video.
The deadline for submission is 1 September.
Further details can be found at https://www.andersonroe.com/newmusic
Yale School of Music Graduate Student Ji Su Jung Wins Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition
Performing E. Séjourné’s Concerto for Marimba and Strings, marimbist Ji Su Jung (a member of The Percussion Collective) won the 43rd annual Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition, which earned her a gold medal, a $25,000 prize and a solo performance at Jones Hall with the Houston Symphony at the Donor and Subscriber Appreciation Concert on Wednesday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. under the direction of Associate Conductor Robert Franz.
Ji Su Jung, member of The Percussion Collective
Congratulations to The Percussion Collective member Ji Su Jung!
Performing E. Séjourné’s Concerto for Marimba and Strings, marimbist Ji Su Jung won the 43rd annual Houston Symphony Ima Hogg Competition, which earned her a gold medal, a $25,000 prize and a solo performance at Jones Hall with the Houston Symphony at the Donor and Subscriber Appreciation Concert on Wednesday, July 11 at 7:30 p.m. under the direction of Associate Conductor Robert Franz.
The Grace Woodson Memorial Award was presented to Jung on Saturday, June 2, in Stude Hall at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music by Honorary Chair, John Neighbors. In addition to the cash prize and solo performance with the Houston Symphony, Jung will participate in a week-long Education and Community Engagement Residency that will provide her with essential training to help her succeed in their field and contribute to the communities in which she lives and works.
Additionally, Jung was the recipient of The Hermann Shoss Audience Choice Award, an award casted by members of the audience. Jung is currently a graduate student at the Yale School of Music and is an active soloist and chamber musician. She has performed in prestigious halls and festivals around the country, including the Kennedy Center and Yellow Barn Chamber Music Festival. Through her endorsement with Vic Firth mallet and drumstick company, she made numerous performance videos that have garnered a quarter of a million views on their website.
Read more about the competition on Houston Symphony's website here.
Musical America: Yuga Cohler Nets Orchestra Prize at Toscanini Competition
Boston-resident conductor Yuga Cohler, 28, has won the Paolo Vero Orchestra Prize at the Arturo Toscanini Conducting Competition, held at the Auditorium Paganini in Parma, Italy.
Musical America
Taylor Grand
Boston-resident conductor Yuga Cohler, 28, has won the Paolo Vero Orchestra Prize at the Arturo Toscanini Conducting Competition, held at the Auditorium Paganini in Parma, Italy.
Read the full article here.
Violinist.com: Applications Open for Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition 2018, with $100,000 top prize
The Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition is accepting applications for its second-ever competition, which will take place in late summer 2018 in Shanghai, offering considerable prizes including top prize of $100,000.
Violinist.com
By Laurie Niles
The Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition is accepting applications for its second-ever competition, which will take place in late summer 2018 in Shanghai, offering considerable prizes including top prize of $100,000.
This year the competition lowered its eligibility age from 18 to 16, with a top age of 32. Applications are due Jan. 31, 2018. Click here for the application. The competition will take place Aug. 8– Sept. 1, 2018.
Mayu Kishima, first prize winner in the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition 2016
Repertoire requirements will focus on the musical over the virtuosic, including string quartet music; sonatas and Kreisler’s works; and a Mozart concerto with originally improvised cadenza. Participants also will be required to learn a newly-written violin concerto, La Joie de la Souffrance by Chinese composer Qigang Chen. The concerto will be premiered Oct. 29 by violinist Maxim Vengerov at the closing gala concert of the 20th Beijing Music Festival, with the China Philharmonic conducted by Long Yu. Based on a Chinese melody dating from the Tang Dynasty, the concerto was co-commissioned by the Beijing Music Festival, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.
The jury for the SISIVC 2018 will be co-chaired by conductor David Stern, son of Isaac Stern, and Vera Tsu Weiling, who is professor of violin at both Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories. Other members of the jury will include Lina Yu; Siqing Lu; Maxim Vengerov; Augustin Dumay; Zakhar Bron; Dora Schwarzberg; Daniel Heifetz; Weigang Li; Philip Setzer; Glenn Dicterow and Sreten Krstic; Martin Campbell-White and Emmanuel Hondré. Contestants will be required to clarify if there is any immediate family or pupil relationship with any jury member upon arrival.
Winners in the 2016 competition included first prize winner Mayu Kishima of Japan, with Sergei Dogadin of Russia coming in second and Serena Huang of the United States third.
New York Times: South Korean Pianist Wins the Van Cliburn Competition
Yekwon Sunwoo won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition on Saturday, besting 29 rivals over two weeks of playing to become the prestigious contest’s first champion from South Korea. The Cliburn, held every four years in Fort Worth, was founded in 1962 by Van Cliburn, the American pianist who stunned the world by winning the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 1958, at the height of the Cold War.
The New York Times
By Zachary Woolfe
The Cliburn winner, Yekwon Sunwoo, center, with the bronze medalist Daniel Hsu, left, of San Francisco, and the silver medalist Kenneth Broberg, right, of Minneapolis. Credit Ralph Lauer
Yekwon Sunwoo won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition on Saturday, besting 29 rivals over two weeks of playing to become the prestigious contest’s first champion from South Korea. The Cliburn, held every four years in Fort Worth, was founded in 1962 by Van Cliburn, the American pianist who stunned the world by winning the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 1958, at the height of the Cold War.
Mr. Sunwoo, 28, played Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in the final round, when each of the six remaining contestants performed first with a string quartet and then with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. The critic Scott Cantrell wrote in The Dallas Morning News that Mr. Sunwoo “tended to rush faster music, a common problem among other competitors — but he demonstrated a real, if not reliably mature, musical personality.”
Two Americans — Kenneth Broberg, 23, from Minneapolis, and Daniel Hsu, 19, of San Francisco — finished in second and third place.
Dallas News: Competitors Named for 2017 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
The 30 competitors have been named for this year's Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, to be held May 25 through June 10 at Fort Worth's Bass Performance Hall. They were selected from 290 pianists who applied for the contest, one of the most prominent music competitions in the world.
Dallas News
By Scott Cantrell
The 30 competitors have been named for this year's Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, to be held May 25 through June 10 at Fort Worth's Bass Performance Hall. They were selected from 290 pianists who applied for the contest, one of the most prominent music competitions in the world. Among the applicants, 140 were selected to perform in screening auditions in January and February in London; Hannover, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Moscow; Seoul, South Korea; New York; and Fort Worth.
The 2017 competitors represent 16 nations, with one competitor, who holds dual Algerian/Canadian citizenship, counted twice: Russia (6), South Korea (5), the United States (4), Canada (3), Italy (2), and one each from Algeria, Austria, China, Croatia, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Poland, Romania, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. There are 21 men and nine women, the competitors ranging from 18 to 30 — the actual age range for eligibility.
The 2017 competitors (with their ages as of the last day of the competition):
Martin James Bartlett, United Kingdom, 20
Sergey Belyavskiy, Russia, 23
Alina Bercu, Romania, 27
Kenneth Broberg, United States, 23
Luigi Carroccia, Italy, 25
Han Chen, Taiwan, 25
Rachel Cheung, Hong Kong, 25
Yury Favorin, Russia, 30
Madoka Fukami, Japan, 28
Mehdi Ghazi, Algeria/Canada, 28
Caterina Grewe, Germany, 29
Daniel Hsu, United States, 19
Alyosha Jurinic, Croatia, 28
Nikolay Khozyainov, Russia, 24
Dasol Kim, South Korea, 28
Honggi Kim, South Korea, 25
Su Yeon Kim, South Korea, 23
Julia Kociuban, Poland, 25
Rachel Kudo, United States, 30
EunAe Lee, South Korea, 29
Ilya Maximov, Russia, 30
Sun-A Park, United States, 29
Leonardo Pierdomenico, Italy, 24
Philipp Scheucher, Austria, 24
Ilya Shmukler, Russia, 22
Yutong Sun, China, 21
Yekwon Sunwoo, South Korea, 28
Georgy Tchaidze, Russia, 29
Tristan Teo, Canada, 20
Tony Yike Yang, Canada, 18
The competition, held every four years, has been reorganized into four rounds:
Preliminary (May 25-28): All contestants play 45-minute solo recitals.
Quarterfinal (May 29-30): Twenty quarterfinalists play 45-minute solo recitals
Semifinal (June 1-5): Twelve semifinalists play 60-minute solo recitals, and a Mozart piano concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, led by Nicholas McGegan.
Final (June 7-10): Six finalists perform a piano quintet with the Brentano String Quartet and a piano concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony, led by Leonard Slatkin.
The entire competition will be webcast live on cliburn.org. In addition, the final round will be broadcast in cinemas around the United States.