Winner Of Michael Hill Violin Comp Announced

Winner of Michael Hill International Violin Competition announced

Feng Ning of China is the winner of the third Michael Hill International Violin Competition. This evening, in a near capacity Auckland Town Hall, 24 year old Feng Ning and the two other finalists (Yvonne Lam of the Unites States, and Bartosz Woroch of Poland) each performed a Violin Concerto (Brahms, Shostakovich and Sibelius, respectively), accompanied by the Auckland Philharmonia conducted by American maestro Christopher Wilkins.

Feng Ning was elated as he received his prize from Michael and Christine Hill and congratulations from Prime Minister Helen Clark. First prize includes NZ$40,000, a CD recording contract for worldwide distribution, a winner’s tour of New Zealand in 2006 under the management of the Auckland Philharmonia, and a Rado Superjubilé watch.

Second Prize went to 24 year old Yvonne Lam; Third Prize to 20 year old Bartosz Woroch. The Merit Award, for the best performance of David Farquhar’s composition earth, air, water, a piece specially commissioned for the competition, was won by Andrew Wan of Canada. Honourable Awards were won by Andrew Wan (Fourth Prize), Liana Gourdjia of Russia (Fifth Prize), and Wen-Lei Gu of China (Sixth Prize). Yvonne Lam was also awarded the use of the Riccardo Bergonzi violin for the next two years.

The 2005 competition jury, chaired by Dr Robin Congreve, was internationally representative and included: Pierre Amoyal (France), Justine Cormack (New Zealand), Dong-Suk Kang (Korea), Paul Kantor (USA), Mark Kaplan (USA), Dene Olding (Australia), and Krzysztof Wegrzyn (Poland/Germany).

Winner of Michael Hill International Violin Competition announced

Juror Paul Kantor, himself a great violinist and currently Distinguished Professor of Violin at the Curtis Institute of Music, said: “All of the judges felt that the competition was a wonderful demonstration of artistry, accomplishment and devotion to the musicians’ chosen art. Of all the gifted musicians we have seen over the past week, Feng Ning was clearly a standout, and I think he has every possibility of having a very successful and important career.”

Feng Ning communicated musically and expressively in a way that was very compelling, not just to the judges and the audience, but to his 17 fellow competitors who gave him a standing ovation following his performance tonight.

Leading up to the finals has been an intense week of competition for the 18 semi-finalists, all of whom were flown to Auckland for the finals tonight. From a field of nearly 100 applicants representing 27 different countries, 18 violinists were selected to compete in the first two solo and piano-accompanied rounds of the semi-finals, held in Queenstown from Saturday 4 to Monday 6 June. At the completion of these rounds, the jury selected the top six violinists to go through to Round III of the competition, a chamber music round held in Auckland on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 June. Each of the six violinists was required to perform a Trio with Ashley Brown (cello) and Sarah Watkins (piano) of the New Zealand Trio. From this round, the jury chose the three finalists.

The fourth Michael Hill International Violin Competition is scheduled to begin at Queen’s Birthday weekend, 2007.

ENDS

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