24 candidates will take part in the semi-final stage of the Brussels-based competition

Queen Elisabeth Competition Semi-Finalists

The 24 semi-finalists will perform a 40-minute recital and a Mozart Violin Concerto

The 2019 Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition – in Brussels, Belgium - has announced its 24 semi-finalists:

  • Timothy Chooi (25, Canada)
  • Ioana Cristina Goicea (26, Romania)
  • Luke Hsu (28, United States)
  • Stephen Kim (23, United States)
  • Ji Won Song (26, South Korea)
  • Stella Chen (26, United States)
  • Anna Göckel (27, France)
  • Sylvia Huang (25, Belgium)
  • Meruert Karmenova (25, Kazakhstan)
  • Siwoo Kim (29, South Korea/United States)
  • Daniel Kogan (26, Canada/Russia)
  • Shannon Lee (26, Canada/United States)
  • Yoo Jin Lee (20, South Korea)
  • Christine Lim (24, South Korea/United States)
  • Seina Matsuoka (25, Japan)
  • Mio Yoshie (23, Japan)
  • Seiji Okamoto (24, Japan)
  • Kyumin Park (22, South Korea)
  • Julia Pusker (27, Hungary)
  • Eva Rabchevska (22, Ukraine)
  • Elly Suh (29, South Korea/United States)
  • Max Tan (26, United States)
  • Yukiko Uno (23, Japan)
  • Vasyl Zatsikha (28, Ukraine)

During the semi-final, which takes place from 6-11 May, each candidate will present a 40-minute recital programme including Belgian composer Bram Van Camp‘s newly-commissioned Scherzo-Bagatelle, as well as the 3rd and 4th movements from Ysaye’s 1st Solo Violin Sonata. In addition they will lead the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie in a performance of a Mozart Violin Concerto.

The final round takes place from 20-25 May, with each candidate performing a concerto and a compulsory work specially composed for the competition accompanied by the Belgian National Orchestra and conducted by Hugh Wolff.

Open to international violinists aged 18 to 30 who are ready to embark on an international career, the competition offers €25,000 to its 1st prize winner, as well as a CD recording, a number of prestigious international performance opportunities and the 4-year use of the 1708 ‘Huggins‘ Stradivarius, on loan from the Nippon Music Foundation.

The inaugural QEMC in 1937 was devoted to the violin and dedicated to Eugène Ysaÿe, who had recently died. David Oistrakh, then aged 28, was the competition’s first winner. The first piano competition took place the year after. Singing was added in 1988 and, in 2017, the contest was opened out to cellists. There is also a composition competition, which is run outside of the four-year cycle.

The 2019 violin jury comprises Pierre Amoyal, Martin Beaver, Corina Belcea, Patrice Fontanarosa, Pamela Frank, Lorenzo Gatto, Koichiro Harada, Yossif Ivanov, Dong-Suk Kang, Victor Kissine, Jaime Laredo, Shirly Laub, Mihaela Martin, Midori, Natalia Prischepenko, Vadim Repin and Arabella Steinbacher.

The winner of the 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition was the South Korean violinist Ji Young Lim.

 

 

 

 

Topics