MONTREAL — Over the past 12 twelve days, 23 violinists from around the world have been competing for the top prize at the annual Montreal International Music Competition (MIMC).
The MIMC rotates between piano, voice and violin in a three-year cycle, and this year, the violin is in the crosshairs.
More than 200 young violinists applied via videotape, but only 24 were selected for the quarter-finals who were invited to Montreal to perform in front of an international jury and live audience.
Competition has been fierce, and predictably, the final six hopefuls featured three Sibelius Concertos balanced by concertos from Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, and Shostakovich.
Announced from the stage at the final Gala concert, three walked away with the prizes.
First Prize ($30,000)
Ayana Tsuji (Japan) for her performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto.
Second Prize ($15,000):
Bomsori Kim (South Korea) for her performance of Shostakovich Concerto No. 1.
Third Prize ($10,000):
Minami Yoshida (Japan) for her performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto.
Special awards included:
Radio-Canada People’s Choice Award ($5,000) to Bomsori Kim (South Korea)
André-Bachand Award for the best performance of the compulsory Canadian work in the semifinals ($4,000) to Ayana Tsuji (Japan)
Award for the best semifinal recital ($2,500) to Ayana Tsuji (Japan)
Award for the best performance of a Sonata in the semifinal round ($2,000) to
Ayana Tsuji (Japan)
Bach Award for the best performance of a work by J.S. Bach in the quarter-final round ($1,000) to Ayana Tsuji (Japan)
Paganini Award for the best performance of a Caprice by Paganini in the quarter-final round ($1,000) to Ayana Tsuji (Japan)
CMIM grants awarded to the three unranked finalists ($2,000) include Petteri Iivonen (Finland), Fedor Rudin (France – Russia), Ji Won Song (South Korea)
The closing gala concert, held at Maison symphonique de Montréal, feature third place winner Minami Yoshida performing the first movement of Sibelius’ Concerto in D minor, opus 47, followed by second prize winner Bomsori Kim, who performed the third and fourth movements of Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 1 opus 99.
First place winner Ayana Tsuji performed the winning complete Sibelius’ Concerto in D minor, opus 47. The concert closed with CMIM 2013 First Prize winner, Marc Bouchkov playing the theme from Schindler’s List by John Williams.
The 2016 gala concert, as well as all Competition rounds, will be available on demand on CMIM’s YouTube channel.
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