Bow makers Victor Bernard and Emmanuel Carlier were named ‘hors concours’ members, while Canadian luthier Fabienne Gauchet received a double gold for quartet - for the second time
The Violin Society of America’s 2024 International Violin Making Competition has concluded with 38 medals awarded to instrument and bow makers. The instrument judges awarded 6 gold, 20 silver and 5 bronze medals in total, while the bow judges awarded seven gold medals.
The 24th international competition took place alongside the VSA’s annual convention, held at the Mariott Downtown Hotel in Indianapolis, IN, between 19 and 22 November. The competition takes place every two years.
It was a good evening for French bow makers Victor Bernard and Emmanuel Carlier. Bernard won gold medals in all four categories: violin, viola, cello and bass bows. Carlier almost equalled the achievement, receiving golds for his violin, viola and cello bows. Both Bernard and Carlier also received ‘Hors Concours’ certificates, recognising that they have now both received gold medals in three separate VSA competitions: the highest honour the competition can bestow.
Canadian luthier Fabienne Gauchet received a double gold medal for tone and artisanship for her quartet of instruments. This was the second VSA competition in a row where she received this award, having also won a double gold for quartet in 2022. Gauchet also received a silver medal for tone in the violin category; and a certificate of merit for artisanship for her viola.
This year saw a total of 518 instruments entered: 204 violins, 104 violas, 62 cellos and 12 double basses, plus 34 quartets. Also, 82 bows were entered: 27 for violin, 17 viola, 29 cello and 9 double bass. All the submitted instruments and bows are now on display at the Indianapolis Convention Center.
This year’s 15 artisanship judges comprised: Guy Harrison, Ulrich Hinsberger and Melina Polizzi (violin); Kelvin Scott, Jason Viseltear and Wendy Moes (viola); Frank Ravatin, Mira Gruszow and Julie Reed-Yeboah (cello); Mario Lamarre, Bill Lakeberg and David Wiebe (double bass); and Morgan Andersen, Yannick Le Canu and Emmanuel Begin (bows). The viola and cello judges were also responsible for judging the quartets.
The 16 tone judges comprised: Cristian Fatu, Richard Lin and Sandy Yamamoto (violin); Jordan Bak, Yu Jin and Zhanbo Vheng (viola); Austin Huntington, Mihail Jojatu and Anna Clift (cello); Rachel Calin, Sharif Ibrahim and David Murray (bass); and Sirnin Ganatra, Austin Hartman, Mark Holloway and Brandon Vamos, who make up the Pacifica Quartet. Cellist Emilio Colón was also present as a listening judge.
The full list of award recipients is below:
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INSTRUMENTS
Quartets
Double Gold Medal for Tone and Artisanship
Fabienne Gauchet
Gold Medal
Stefano Gibertoni & Valerio Nalin
Silver Medal for Artisanship
Noémie Viaud
Silver Medal for Tone
Artur Friedhoff
Elià Fabré & Aogu Shimasaki
Zhiling Liang
Certificate of Merit for Artisanship
Benjamin Molinaro
Jinlong Yang
Viateur Roy
Certificate of Merit for Tone
Jin Wook Hong
Jun Hong Wang
Theodore Skreko
Yi Huan Wang
Yufan Chen & Huo Rong Jiang
Violin
Silver Medal for Artisanship
Akop Azoyan
Paul Belin
Silver Medal for Tone
Fabienne Gauchet
Maximilian Franke & Elisabeth Franke
Peter Bingen
Philip Ihle & Mathieu Fourrier
Bronze Medal
Milos Seyda
Certificate of Merit for Artisanship
Piotr Pielaszek
Viateur Roy
Certificate of Merit for Tone
Andrew Ryan
Artur Friedhoff
Elià Fabré & Aogu Shimasaki
Gabor Draskoczy
John Wright
Jordan Ripstein
Ryan McLaughlin
Vejcheslav Popovski
Xue Wang
Zhongbo Wang
Zhuolin Li
Viola
Gold Medal
Elià Fabré & Aogu Shimasaki
Silver Medal for Artisanship
Jinlong Yang
Lucas Castera
Silver Medal for Tone
Benjamin Molinaro
Certificate of Merit for Artisanship
Bin Li
Boris Haug
Elià Fabré & Aogu Shimasaki
Fabienne Gauchet
Haitao Liu
Paweł Kubacka
Stefano Gibertoni & Valerio Nalin
Xiaoyang Yan
Certificate of Merit for Tone
Eduard Miller
Yan Wang & Xiaolin Xu
Zhiling Liang
Marcin Krupa
Theodore Skreko
Tamás Orsós
Cello
Silver Medal for Artisanship
Benjamin Molinaro
Noémie Viaud
Viateur Roy
Silver Medal for Tone
Michael Doran
Certificate of Merit for Artisanship
Krzysztof Krupa
Marcin Krupa
Stefano Gibertoni & Valerio Nalin
Certificate of Merit for Tone
Artur Friedhoff
Christian Pedersen & Paul Hart
Elià Fabré & Aogu Shimasaki
Jeffrey Muller
John Dailey
John Wright
Jun Hong Wang
Yi Huan Wang
Double bass
Bronze Medal
Christian Pedersen & Paul Hart
Christopher Savino
Trevor Davis
Certificate of Merit for Artisanship
Colin Shipman
Evan Davenport
Helen McIntosh
Mason Weedman
Oskar Krawiecki
BOWS
Violin bow
Gold Medal
Emmanuel Carlier
Victor Bernard
Certificate of Merit
Niall Flemming
Yongmin Na
Viola bow
Gold Medal
Emmanuel Carlier
Victor Bernard
Certificate of Merit
Lucie Martinie
Niall Flemming
Yongmin Na
Cello bow
Gold Medal
Emmanuel Carlier
Victor Bernard
Certificate of Merit
Éric Gagné
Joséphine Thomachot
Lucie Martinie
Yongmin Na
Bass bow
Gold Medal
Victor Bernard
Certificate of Merit
Michael Gaisbacher
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