2023 Michael Hill International Violin Competition - Highlights from Queenstown (part 2 of 6)

Welcome back to the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. This is the second program of highlights from the Queenstown performances. We are still in round one, in which the competitors have to play a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach, a Caprice by Paganini, a violin showpiece, and a piece of their own choosing.

The Michael Hill International Violin Competition is one of the big violin events in the world. And we are very pleased to have the opportunity to welcome the world’s best of the new generation of violin soloists to New Zealand.

So it’s a competition, and a competition needs a panel of judges. In 2023, among them were three previous winners of the competition: Natalia Lomeiko, Bella Hristova, and Ning Feng. They are joined by Canadian violin soloist James Ehnes, who has been playing with New Zealand’s orchestras plenty of times; New Zealander Wilma Smith; Anthony Marwood from the UK; and Pianist Piers Lane.

So let’s start with a violinist from the United States. Audrey Park studies at the Juilliard School. She plays Tchaikovsky‘s Melody in E flat from Souvenir d’un lieu cher Op. 42. and Carmen Fantasy Brilliante by Jenő Hubay. Somi Kim is at the piano.

 

A violinist from Japan now. Yuri Tanaka studies at Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. With Sarah Watkins at the piano she plays Rhapsody No 1 by Béla Bartók.

 

The next performer is from the United States, and she also studies in Germany, at the Kronberg Academy to be precise. It’s Claire Wells. Together with Sommi Kim at the piano she plays Serenade Espagnole by French composer Cecile Chaminade and Poeme Elegiaque by Eugène Ysaÿe.

 

The next violinist is Ayaka Uchio from Japan. She also studies in Germany. Together with Sarah Watkins at the piano she performs Chanson de Matin Op. 15 Number 2 by Edward Elgar and Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane.

 

The next violinist is from Canada. Her name is Julia Mirzoev. She has a piece by Bach for us now: Grave and Fuge from Sonata No. 2 in a minor and Between Worlds by young American composer Carlos Simon.

 

Next up, it’s Seonglan Hong from South Korea. She has a piece by Ysaÿe for us: Sonata for solo violin in D. Minor, number 3 ballade Op., 27.

 

Another violinist from Japan next, that’s Aoi Saito. She has a caprice by Paganini for us. That’s Caprice No 10 in G Minor. After that she plays a piece by Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst: Variations on the last Rose of summer.

 

 

Music recorded at the Queenstown Memorial Hall on 3rd June 2023. 

Producer: Adrian Hollay

Engineer: Adrian Hollay.