Young Musicians Tune Up for National Chamber Music Contest

MEDIA RELEASE: For Immediate Release  

Young Musicians Tune Up for National Chamber Music Contest

More than 1700 young musicians from around New Zealand are tuning up ready to compete in the annual New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest.

Fifteen district contests are held nationwide during June to select the top 12 ensembles who will compete in the National Finals in Wellington in August. This year the contest has attracted 463 groups of between three and eight musicians, including 14 octets. The largest district contest is held in Auckland where it takes five days from Tuesday 4 June for all 109 ensembles to perform.

Chamber Music New Zealand chief executive Euan Murdoch says he is delighted with entry numbers for the 2013 contest, adding that it’s not always the largest cities which field the most entries. “Hawkes Bay and Whanganui are great supporters of the contest and we’re pleased to see 55 ensembles will be competing in the Hawkes Bay contest, and 38 in Whanganui.”

The competition, which celebrates its 48th anniversary this year, is the longest running youth music competition in New Zealand and is the only nationwide chamber music competition for young musicians and composers. As well as organising the contest, Chamber Music New Zealand also arranges coaching and open workshops for ensembles.

At the end of each District Contest the winning group from each district, and up to four highly commended groups, will be named.  The top ensembles receive a cash prize and the group presenting the Best Performance of a New Zealand work will be awarded a $100 prize at each District Contest. The overall Best Performance of a New Zealand work will also win a $500 prize.

The top ensembles from the District Contests compete in the National Finals on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 August in Wellington.

Each member of the winning group at the National Final receives the James Wallace Arts Trust Prize of $1000 and the Arthur Hilton Memorial Prize of a relevant musical text.

This year 30 young composers have submitted work for judging in the Original Composition section, with 20 of these entered in the Junior Composer category which was introduced in 2012. New Zealand composer Anthony Ritchie will select the winning score and the winning composer will be awarded the SOUNZ prize of $500.

The national contest is well-known for nurturing young musicians who go on to successful musical careers. Iconic New Zealand pianist Michael Houstoun competed in the event when he was a school student in Timaru and acclaimed pianist John Chen is also a past winner. He went on to win the 2004 Sydney International Piano Competition and the 2003 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition and in 2009, his ensemble, Saguaro Trio won the International Chamber Music Competition in Hamburg, Germany.

Last year, the contest was won by Auckland string quartet Geist who went on to perform in China. It was the first time in the contest’s history that an ensemble has won the contest two years running.

In presenting the New Zealand Community Trust Chamber Music Contest, Chamber Music New Zealand acknowledges the generous support of The New Zealand Community Trust, ABRSM, SOUNZ (Centre for NZ Music), The Wallace Arts Trust, KBB Music and various regional funders who support events at District Contests.

ENDS

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