Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition Re-Ignites Next August

Co-chaired by conductor David Stern and Professor Vera Tsu Weiling, the Jury Committee is expanded by two additional members and feature a star-studded lineup of pedagogues, violinists and industry leaders.

The jury will comprise Vera Tsu Weiling, Lina Yu and Siqing Lu, the violin pioneers from China; renowned violinists Maxim Vengerov and Augustin Dumay; distinguished educators Zakhar Bron, Dora Schwarzberg and Daniel Heifetz; Weigang Li and Philip Setzer, respectively the founding member of two string quartets; Glenn Dicterow and Sreten Krstic, concertmasters of two of the world's leading symphony orchestras; renowned conductor David Stern; and industry veterans Martin Campbell-White and Emmanuel Hondré.

More than Virtuosity

The level of difficulty of the repertoire was among the most discussed topics in the last competition for which the contestants prepared as much as four-hours of repertoire, a challenging requirement that is rare in any international competitions of its kind.

The repertoire of this edition implies a greater focus on the grasp and understanding of the musical spirit than merely performers' technique, encouraging them to evolve from 'soloists' to 'musicians'. The Semi-Finals will still feature a chamber music round consisting of three sections -- the string quartet in which contestant will perform as the first violinist with Yi-Wen Jiang, Honggang Li and Nicholas Tzavaras from the Shanghai Quartet; sonatas and Kreisler's works; and Mozart concerto with originally improvised cadenza. In addition to a concerto as is conventional in competitions, the Final Round will also include the Chinese work to increase the difficulty.

Co-Commission for New Chinese Work

The Butterfly Lovers Concerto -- the mandatory repertoire of the inaugural competition -- enabled young violinists from various countries to get to know the Chinese music and the Chinese culture.

A special plan for the Chinese work of the 2018 Competition, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will, in cooperation with Beijing Music Festival, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse and New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, co-commission the new violin concerto La Joie de la Souffrance by the renowned Chinese composer Qigang Chen.

This embodies the concept of creating the Chinese work section is a more effective approach to communicate the Chinese culture with the rest of the world.

From Competition to Profession

Besides the largest monetary prize of USD 100,000 presented to the champion, the competition goes to great effort to help 'soloists' become 'musicians' on their road. The first competition saw its partnerships with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra, paving the way to professionalism and encouraging winners to embrace their artistic dreams.

Following the last competition, some of the winners returned to Shanghai to perform with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. Furthermore, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Beijing Music Festival etc. have offered the performance opportunities to the winners.

Lowering the Minimum Application Age to Provide More Opportunities

The competition has expanded the age limit from 18-32 to 16-32 to attract more young talents. Apart from it, applicants who have won the 1^st, 2^nd or 3^rd prize in the three major musical competitions, namely International Tchaikovsky Competition, International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition, and Queen Elisabeth Music Competition, will be exempted from pre-selection DVD submission; and those admitted to the public rounds of the competition will be provided with travel reimbursement and free accommodation.

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