Bella Hristova wins Violin Competition

Media Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

9 June 2007

Bella Hristova wins 2007 Michael Hill International Violin Competition

Bella Hristova of Bulgaria is the winner of the 2007 Michael Hill International Violin Competition. This evening in the Auckland Town Hall, 21 year old Bella Hristova and fellow finalists, Yuuki Wong of Dominica and Stefan Hempel of Germany, each performed the Brahms Violin Concerto in D major, accompanied by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Christian Knapp.

Bella Hristova was overwhelmed by her win. “This is such a great, unbelievable moment,” she said. “And the prize means a great deal to me, particularly the CD recording. I feel honoured and can’t believe it’s happened.” First prize includes NZ$40,000, a CD recording on the Naxos label for worldwide distribution, and a winner’s tour of New Zealand in 2008.

Second Prize of NZ$10,000 went to 25 year old Yuuki Wong; Third Prize of NZ$5,000 went to 27 year old Stefan Hempel. The prize of NZ$2,500 for the semi-finalist who had the best performance of Ross Harris’s composition Fanitullen, a piece specially commissioned for the Competition, was won by Yuuki Wong. Celeste Golden (United States) won Fourth Prize; Noah Geller (United States) won Fifth Prize; and Can Gao (China) won Sixth Prize. Kinga Augustyn of Poland was awarded the use of the Riccardo Bergonzi violin for the next two years.

The 2007 Competition jury, chaired by Dr Robin Congreve, was internationally representative and included Pierre Amoyal (France/Switzerland), Justine Cormack (New Zealand), Pamela Frank (United States), Mark Kaplan (United States), Boris Kuschnir (Russia/Austria), Hu Kun (China/United Kingdom), and Dene Olding (Australia).

Juror Pierre Amoyal, one of the leading violinists of his generation, said “Throughout the competition we were expecting a lot from Bella with her control of technique and the beauty of her music in the different styles. Of course in front of a big audience, as we had tonight, you never know how someone will perform, but Bella was fantastic. And she played the unusual and difficult Heifetz Cadenza which brought back wonderful memories for me as this was one I used to play with my teacher [Heifetz]. It was a brave and thoughtful choice to play this and good for the audience to hear this wonderful Cadenza.”

Leading up to the finals was a week of intense competition for the 18 semi-finalists in the 2007 Michael Hill International Violin Competition. They were initially selected from a field of over 100 applicants, representing 25 different nationalities, to compete in the first two solo and piano-accompanied rounds of the semi-finals, held in Queenstown from Saturday 2 to Monday 4 June. At the completion of those rounds, the jury selected the top six competitors to go through to the chamber music round held in Auckland on Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 June. Each of the six competitors was required to perform a full-length trio with Ashley Brown (cello) and Sarah Watkins (piano) of the NZTrio. From this round, the jury chose the three finalists.

The biennial Michael Hill International Violin Competition (a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions) aims to recognise and encourage excellence and musical artistry, to expand performance opportunities (including playing New Zealand repertoire), and to promote young violinists from all over the world who are on the brink of launching their professional solo careers and are aspiring to establish themselves on the world stage.

The fifth Michael Hill International Violin Competition is scheduled to begin at Queen’s Birthday weekend, 2009.

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