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
2018 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition Launches
The Organisation Committee held a press conference on August 8, 2018 to announce that the second edition of the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin 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.
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
Violin Channel: Grand Teton Music Festival Insta Takeover
Violin Channel
The Violin Channel recently caught up with the Grand Teton Music Festival for a behind-the-scenes Instagram takeover – direct from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, United States, with conductor Donald Runnicles, composer Sean Shepherd and cellist Johannes Moser.
See more highlight posts here.
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
Violinist: Interview with Cellist Johannes Moser: Shostakovich at the Grand Teton Festival
German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, who studied with the renowned cello teacher David Geringas, was a top prize winner at the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition and has been involved in commissioning numerous new works for cello, will play this week at the Grand Teton Music Festival, in both a chamber concert Thursday and this weekend as soloist for Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1.
Violinist.com
Laurie Niles
"This may be a very controversial thing to say to a violinist: I started with the violin at age five, and my exit strategy from the violin was the cello."
German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, now a soloist who has played with top orchestras all over the world, was telling me how he found his way to the cello. Moser, who studied with the renowned cello teacher David Geringas, was a top prize winner at the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition and has been involved in commissioning numerous new works for cello, will play this week at the Grand Teton Music Festival, in both a chamber concert Thursday and this weekend as soloist for Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1.
Read more here.
Minnesota Public Radio: New Classical Tracks: Anderson and Roe Piano Duo honors mothers with musical tribute
"Motherhood might be perhaps the ultimate form of creation, but as artists we are giving birth to new pieces, to performances, to new ideas all the time. And so, it felt like a fitting sort of theme and tribute to the wonderful maternal figures in our lives," says Elizabeth Joy Roe, pianist and one half of the Anderson and Roe Piano Duo. Mother, a musical tribute, is the latest recording from Roe and duo partner Greg Anderson.
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR)
Julie Amacher
"Motherhood might be perhaps the ultimate form of creation, but as artists we are giving birth to new pieces, to performances, to new ideas all the time. And so, it felt like a fitting sort of theme and tribute to the wonderful maternal figures in our lives," says Elizabeth Joy Roe, pianist and one half of the Anderson and Roe Piano Duo. Mother, a musical tribute, is the latest recording from Roe and duo partner Greg Anderson.
The idea for the project came to the duo while they were performing at the Gilmore Festival.
"Initially, this kind of got under way when we performed on Mother's Day at the Gilmore Festival a couple of years ago, and we wanted to pay tribute to our mothers who were attending that concert. We saw just the huge variety of ways mothers have been portrayed in music over the years, and that really got us excited and got us thinking about what it means to represent motherhood through music," explains Anderson.
An important part of the project was representing the diverse aspects of mother figures.
"And also, we like to tap into the diverse aspects of women or of people that serve as mothers you know. Mothers aren't merely beautiful beings who emit tenderness but they can also be saucy women or saucy figures like Mrs. Robinson, and so we took that classic Simon and Garfunkel tune and lovingly added it to the mix because sometimes mothers are only seen in one way," says Roe.
"When I think about my mother, there are times like in Bohemian Rhapsody when the singer just sings, 'Mama!' That closeness one might get with their mother. And I mean I certainly have many instances in my life where it's just like I want that. All of these emotions, certainly as we were putting the album together you know, just kept coming up in us and we kept remembering our own histories and pasts with our mothers," adds Anderson.
Read or listen to the full interview here.
OperaWire: Yannick Nézet-Séguin To Lead Staged ‘Tosca’ At Bravo! Vail Music Festival In 2019
The Philadelphia Orchestra will be back in 2019 to showcase Puccini’s “Tosca” as Bravo! Vail Music Festival’s debut opera production. Performances are set for July 11 and 13, 2019 at the outdoor Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater.
OperaWire
David Salazar
The Philadelphia Orchestra will be back in 2019 to showcase Puccini’s “Tosca” as Bravo! Vail Music Festival’s debut opera production. Performances are set for July 11 and 13, 2019 at the outdoor Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater.
The announcement was made by Bravo! Vail’s Music Festival’s Artistic Director Anne-Marie McDermott during a concert by the ensemble, as led by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Nézet-Séguin will conduct with director James Alexander leading production company Symphony V in the rendition of the famed Puccini opera. The production will be set in the 1800s and the opera will showcase an all-star cast that will be revealed at a later date.
Read more here.
The Atlantic: What Classical Music Can Learn From Kanye West
Since 2016, Feigenbaum and the conductor Yuga Cohler have periodically put on performances they call “Yeethoven,” including two in Los Angeles and one at New York City’s Lincoln Center. With a contingent of classical instrumentalists, they trace the similarities between the works of a 21st-century rapper/producer [Kanye West] and a 18th- to 19th-century composer.
The Atlantic
Spencer Kornhaber
The conversation around Kanye West lately has focused on politics, stunts, and the phrase scoopity-poop. It can be easy to forget that it was his musicianship, not provocations, that built up enough goodwill for him to go on a five-week spree of releasing one album a week (at least one of which, apparently, was put out in unfinished, soon-to-be-revised form).
Some of those albums—Nas’s Nasir and Teyana Taylor’s KTSE, both produced by West—feature string arrangements and vocals by the Yale-trained composer and pop artist Stephen “Johan ” Feigenbaum. He had, in a way, gotten West’s attention by drawing attention away from the noise around West and back to his music. Since 2016, Feigenbaum and the conductor Yuga Cohler have periodically put on performances they call “Yeethoven,” including two in Los Angeles and one at New York City’s Lincoln Center. With a contingent of classical instrumentalists, they trace the similarities between the works of a 21st-century rapper/producer and a 18th- to 19th-century composer.
Read more here.
South China Morning Post: Passing the baton: Chinese conductors finally get their chance on the big stage
After years of relying on Westerners, symphony orchestras across China are turning to a fresh generation of Chinese musical directors.
South China Morning Post (via AFP)
Julien Girault (AFP)
After years of relying on Westerners, symphony orchestras across China are turning to a fresh generation of Chinese musical directors.
Jing Huan, one of a new generation of Chinese conductors, performing in Beijing (AFP Photo/WANG Zhao)
Jing Huan twirls her conductor's baton nervously in the wings while the brass and string sections of China's Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra tune their instruments.
Aged 36, Jing is part of a new breed of foreign-trained conductors, as China hopes to gain recognition in the field after winning global fame for its soloists, including piano and string virtuosos...
Last year her orchestra performed on a prestigious Beijing stage as part of a "musical marathon" that saw nine ensembles play one after another to mark the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Music Festival...
China has come a long way however, said Long Yu, 54, artistic director of the Shanghai and Guangzhou symphony orchestras, and founder of the Beijing Music Festival.
"I grew up in Shanghai in the midst of the Cultural Revolution," a period of political turmoil from 1966-1976 during which Western music was banned, the maestro told AFP.
Long secretly learned the piano from his grandfather, a renowned composer, and in the 1980s became one of the first Chinese musicians to study abroad as the Communist government started to open up to the rest of the world.
Classical Post: Shanghai Orchestra Academy Students Gain Invaluable Experience in NYC
Five Shanghai Orchestra Academy students spent more than eight action-packed days in New York City last month participating in both musical and cultural exchange.
Classical Post
(L to R) Sihong Zhao, Yanru Chiu, Fangyu Huang, Joshua Bell, Renchao Yu, and Kuan Liu \ Credit: Chris Lee
Five Shanghai Orchestra Academy students spent more than eight action-packed days in New York City last month participating in both musical and cultural exchange. In addition to performing Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade in four concerts with the New York Philharmonic as part of its annual Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, the students – called Zarin Mehta Fellows – enjoyed tours of the New York Philharmonic Archives, David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, and important cultural sites including the 9/11 Memorial and Freedom Tower, Statue of Liberty, and Brooklyn Bridge.
The four Concerts in the Parks performances attained resounding success with the Fellows. The students – Renchao Yu, violin; Kuan Liu, viola; Fangyu Huang, flute; Yanru Chiu, clarinet; and Sihong Zhao, bassoon – met superstar violinist Joshua Bell in addition to working one-on-one with New York Philharmonic Concertmaster Frank Huang, Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples, and other Philharmonic Principals.
Read more here.