Opportunities for International Violin Competition Winners

MICHAEL HILL INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION MEDIA RELEASE: For immediate release

US Collaboration Provides More Opportunities for Michael Hill International Violin Competition Winners

A star-studded international jury and an exciting new collaboration have been announced for the prestigious Michael Hill International Violin Competition.

Entries for the 2013 contest have now opened, and in launching the seventh biennial contest, Sir Michael Hill also announced the eight-member judging jury and a multi-year partnership with The Harris Theatre in Chicago.

The jury features Austria’s Christian Altenburger, Grammy-award winning violinist James Ehnes from Canada, Ida Kavafian (Armenian/USA), Australia’s Dene Golding, Dmitry Sitkovetsky (Russia/UK), New Zealand String Quartet violinist Helene Pohl, and 2005 competition winner Ning Feng, with chairman Dr Robin Congreve.

Sir Michael Hill said he was delighted to announce a special collaboration between the competition, Michael Hill International and The Harris Theatre which will see competition winners perform alongside artists from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and other distinguished ensembles in main series concerts at The Harris Theatre in Chicago’s Millennium Park.

The first of these concerts will feature Russian violinist and 2011 competition winner Sergey Malov along with 2007 winner, Bulgarian Bella Hristova in concert on January 24 2013.

Applications for the 2013 Michael Hill International Violin Competition are open until November 30 2012 and a panel of New Zealand and Australia’s leading violinists convene in person to select the 18 semifinalists who will compete live in Queenstown and Auckland in three rounds and a final in June 2013. The 18 semi-finalists will be announced in December 2012.

The Michael Hill International Violin Competition is a biennial event which, since its inauguration in 2001, has been recognised as one of the top violin competitions in the world. It was awarded membership of the prestigious World Federation of Music Competitions and attracts entries from more than 25 countries. Past winners have gone on to remarkable success and include Joseph Lin, now first violin in the Juilliard String Quartet; Natalia Lomeiko, a professor at the Royal College of Music; and Josef Špaček, concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic.

As well as a cash prize of $40,000, the contest winner receives a winner’s tour with Chamber Music New Zealand and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Last year’s winner, Sergey Malov has just completed the tour, performing 20 concerts throughout the country.

The 2013 competition is open to violinists of all nationalities born after 1 June 1985 and before 1 June 1995. For more information, visit www.violincompetition.co.nz
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