Koreans pianists have featured prominently in recent international music competitions, such as the Leeds, Chopin and Busoni. Now is the chance for the violinists to shine. Dubbed ‘the Olympics of the Violin’, the Menuhin Competition is the world’s leading competition for young violinists, held every two years in a different world city (most recently Austin, Texas in 2014, Beijing in 2012 and Oslo in 2010). It attracts hundreds of entries from over 40 countries, choosing only 44 of the world’s very best young violinists to participate. The competition discovers, encourages and nurtures exceptionally talented young musicians from the UK and the rest of the world under the age of 22 years to develop into the next generation of great artists.
To celebrate the centenary of its founder, Yehudi Menuhin, the Menuhin Competition returns to London for the first time since 2004, staging an 11-day festival of concerts, events, education and outreach activities in various London venues from 7-17 April 2016, embodying Lord Menuhin’s philosophy that music connects.
The competition is hosted by the Royal Academy of Music, presented in partnership with the Philharmonia Orchestra, Southbank Centre, The Yehudi Menuhin School and Classic FM.
The competition organisers have recently announced the names of the 2016 competitors and eleven of them, which means a quarter of the total number, are of Korean nationality:
Yeyeong Jin, 12 years old | NaKyung Kang, 12 years old | Byeol Kim, 15 years old | EunSeo Lee, 14 years old | Do Gyung Im, 18 years old | Yookyung Kang, 19 years old | Jeein Kim, 20 years old | Nan Joo Lee, 20 years old | Yoojin Lee, 17 years old | Youjin Lee, 20 years old | HyunJae Lim, 18 years old
Also the Korean violinist Dong-Suk Kang is part of the jury.
The competition is divided into senior (16 and over) and junior sections, and the set works include new commissions and a range of solo and accompanied works. The finalists will perform a concerto with full orchestra. The competition heats are at the Royal Academy of Music, and the Senior finals are on 16 April at the Royal Festival Hall, with collateral events across London throughout the competition.
Links: