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The semi-finalists of Harbin’s Schoenfeld International String Competition have been announced. The second round took place on 17 and 18 July in Harbin, China. The contestants performed sonata repertoire, a virtuosic piece, plus a new Chinese composition.
The violin semi-finalists are:
Yige Chen (China, 25)
Bo Cui (China, 24)
Sara Dragan (Poland, 23)
Hyeonji Kim (Korea, 25)
Inga Rodina (Russia, 25)
Meng Zou (China, 22)
Audrey Park (US, 22)
The cello semi-finalists are:
Matthias Balzat (New Zealand, 26)
Bogdan Efremov (Russia, 19)
Johannes Gray (US, 28)
Nagyeom Jang (Korea, 24)
Jeri Lee (Korea, 15)
Runing Li (China, 16)
Andres Sanchez (US, 28)
The semi-finals will take place on 20 July. The cello competitors will perform either the Haydn C major Cello Concerto or Haydn D major Cello Concerto, alongside a contemporary work. The violinists will play either Mozart’s Violin Concerto no.4 in D major or Mozart’s Violin Concerto no.5 in A major, as well as a contemporary work.
Both the violin and cello divisions include a gold medal and $30,000 first prize, followed by the silver medal and $15,000 and the bronze medal and $8,000. Special awards include the best performance of Beethoven work, the audience award, the Frankie Hui special award and for outstanding performance of a new piece.
The competition was founded by violinist Alice Schoenfeld and her sister, cellist Eleonore Schoenfeld, who co-founded the Schoenfeld International Music Society. The two were among the first internationally recognised musicians to visit communist China after formal diplomatic relations between the US and China began in the 1980s. More than a hundred Chinese string students studying abroad received scholarship support on their recommendation.
The competition is sponsored by Harbin Modern Culture & Tourism Investment Group Co., Ltd. 哈尔滨马迭尔文化旅游投资集团有限公司.
This year’s competition jury is chaired by Augustin Dumay and Arto Noras, and comprises Sergey Antonov, Anne Gastinel, Xenia Jankovic, Natalia Pavlutskaya, Alasdair Tait, James Cuddeford, Roman Kim, Jennifer Koh, Vineta Sareika, Tianwa Yang, Lina Yu, with Wei He and Li Sheng serving as the distinguished artist panel.
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