Poland, China and the US represented in Finals

Media Release

for immediate release

9 June 2005

Poland, China and the US represented in Finals

The jury of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition has chosen the three violinists to compete in the finals of the competition on Saturday 11 June in the Auckland Town Hall. Each musician will perform a Violin Concerto with the Auckland Philharmonia under the direction of American conductor Christopher Wilkins.

The finalists, and the Violin Concerto each will perform, are:

Yvonne Lam (USA) – Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No.1 in A minor, Op.99 (aka Op.77)

Feng Ning (China) – Brahms: Violin Concerto in D, Op.77

Bartosz Woroch (Poland) – Sibelius: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op.47

From a field of nearly 100 applicants representing 27 different countries, 18 violinists were selected to compete in the first two solo and piano-accompanied rounds of the semi-finals, held in Queenstown from Saturday 4 to Monday 6 June. At the completion of these rounds, the jury selected the top six violinists to go through to Round III of the competition, a chamber music round held in Auckland on Wednesday 8 and Thursday 9 June. Each of the six violinists was required to perform a Trio with Ashley Brown (cello) and Sarah Watkins (piano) of the New Zealand Trio. From this round, the jury chose the three finalists.

The seven jurors of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition, under the chairmanship of Dr Robin Congreve, are:

Pierre Amoyal (France)

Justine Cormack (New Zealand)

Dong-Suk Kang (Korea)

Paul Kantor (USA)

Mark Kaplan (USA)

Dene Olding (Australia)

Krzysztof Wegrzyn (Poland/Germany)

Michael Hill International Violin Competition – finals

Saturday 11 June, 7.30pm – Auckland Town Hall

Bookings through Ticketek – phone 307 5139; www.ticketek.co.nz

ENDS

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