Finalists Announced in 2019 Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition; Finals Start Monday
Congratulations to the 12 Finalists in the Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition 2019, announced on Saturday in Belgium. They are:
- Stella Chen, 26, of the U.S.
- Timothy Chooi, 25, of Canada
- Ioana Cristina Goicea, 26, of Romania – Germany
- Luke Hsu, 28, of the U.S.
- Sylvia Huang, 25, of Belgium
- Stephen Kim, 23, of the U.S.
- Shannon Lee, 26, of Canada – U.S.
- Seiji Okamoto, 24, of Japan
- Júlia Pusker, 27, of Hungary
- Eva Rabchevska, 22, of Ukraine
- Ji Won Song, 26, of Korea
- Yukiko Uno, 23, of Japan
Queen Elisabeth Violin Competition Finalists 2019
Click on this page to find videos of performances from all rounds up until now.
During this week the Finalists have been secluded at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel to learn, without outside assistance, a new unpublished work composed for this competition by Finnish composer Kimmo Hakola. For the finals next week, they will play this work as well as a concerto of their choice, with the Belgian National Orchestra, conducted by Hugh Wolff.
Watch the Final Round here, starting Monday with performances by Luke Hsu of the U.S. and Sylvia Huang of Belgium. Two Finalists will perform each night through May 25.
The Queen Elisabeth has been under way in since April 29, with 71 candidates now narrowed down to 12 finalists.
Jury members for the 2019 competition include chairman Gilles Ledure, Lorenzo Gatto, Pierre Amoyal, Martin Beaver , Corina Belcea, Patrice Fontanarosa, Pamela Frank, Koichiro Harada, Yossif Ivanov and Dong-Suk Kang.
The First Prize winner will receive €25,000 and the four-year use of the 1708 "Huggins" Stradivarius, from the Nippon Music Foundation.
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Pardon me if this seems rude, but I am curious to know what kind of fee is earned by a judge for something like this. Anyone have any idea?
Sylvia Huang was stunning in the semi finals. But she told in an interview that in an earlier edition she was in the orchestra that accompanied the violinists. That was the moment she decided she wanted to join the competition too. She has my vote already! (And I judge for free Paul Deck LOL)
I don't, but I'll say that it's a tremendous amount of time and energy, to be a jury member.
Oh yes! I think being a jury member would be a very intense professional commitment. That's why I'm hoping the jury members are well compensated.
Are you thinking they should do it for free, Paul?
It would be more about talent and skill if the judges did it for free...or for the craft.
Patricia Najhawan
It's a little hard to take that much time from work, especially if you have the qualifications that these jury members have, in order to just do it for the love of competitions. I don't think that's at all reasonable!
I definitely don't think the judges should do it for free. The time and effort involved in competitions like this one means they earn their fee.
This is the golden age of the violin.
After reading the enthusiastic comments about Sylvia and since I'm curious, I checked her videos on the competition's website. She is indeed amazing. What a beautiful, calm and relaxed playing. She sounds super naturally gifted, effortless, and she's refreshing and sondifferent from these competition professional. And she is also a beauty. I hope she wins!
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May 16, 2019 at 05:32 PM · Sylvia Huang has a most unusual profile. Apart from two local competitions which she won more than ten years ago, she never participated in competitions, but instead made a very fast career as an orchestral violinist. Without a conservatory degree she got a full position at the Belgian National Orchestra when she was only 18 years old, and a few years later she moved to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam. She never got any formal degree and basically learned music and the violin from her parents. Now, again two or three years later, she decided it would be fun participating in the Queen Elisabeth :-) Check out her performances in the first round and semifinals, they are stunning. She is a revelation.