Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition

25/09/2022

Congratulations, Sirena! 🎉

September 24, 2022, 10:06 PM · INDIANAPOLIS – XX has won the Gold Medal in the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

03/09/2022

The reinvented final of the competition saw performances in the 'Tribute to Isaac Stern's Centennial SISIVC Winners' Concert' from 26 to 28 August 2022

26/08/2022

Set a reminder! ⏰ In less than an hour, the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition will be hosting the first of their 2020 Co-Winners’ Concerts live on YouTube.

Join them at 19:00 Shanghai time (12:00 BST / 07:00 EST) for live performances from Rino Yoshimoto and Thomas Lefort, and at the same time tomorrow and Sunday to hear all 6 of the incredible competition co-winners 🏆

youtu.be/8DreTeyKxJ4

After being postponed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition (SISIVC) proudly presents a ...

19/08/2022

Just 1 week to go before the start of the Winners' Concerts! The concerts will be viewable live on our YouTube channel beginning at 19:00 local time each day - and uploaded to Facebook for watching later. We hope that you'll join us in celebrating these talented 6 violinists!

17/08/2022

Grammy-nominated Chinese composer Zhou Tian discusses his violin concerto, "Night Tour", which all 6 finalists will perform later this month for the “In Tribute to Isaac Stern’s Centennial SISIVC Winners’ Concert” from August 26-28th. "Night Tour" was commissioned by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra - 上海交响乐团 for the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition.

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Violin Concerto "Night Tour" is a musical voyage to splendidness. From a playful counterpoint of folky melodies, to a tranquil meditation of melancholy, to a wild night ritual filled with edgy harmony and rhythms, the concerto seeks inspiration from different cultures and strives to mix them seamlessly into a satisfying and exciting experience.

Scored lushly and mostly tonally, there are hints of my musical lineage from Barber to Piston to traditional erhu (Chinese violin) music, as I sought a coexistence of clarity of form with passionate expression, exploring the richness of orchestral timbre yet always embracing purity of line. As the new work to be played by young violinists from all over the world at the Shanghai Stern Competition, the concerto also celebrates a renewed sense of rejuvenation and hopefulness.

The 23-minute work unfolds in three movements:

I. Vivo (10 minutes) opens with the soloist in an energetic quasi cadenza, supported by rhythmic sparkles from the brass and strings. The music soon unfolds into a songful Andante, in which a melody is slowly developed into a vivid toccata. After reaching a climactic point, a “real” cadenza appears, succeeded by a shortened return of the toccata.

II. Amoroso (8 minutes) is a late-night walk in a quiet city. Still and chorale-like at first, the soloist soon joins the plush strings with an airy lullaby. The sonic color is altered through sul ponticello (with the bow kept near the bridge) and flautando (creating a flute-like sound by moving the bow lightly on the string near the fingerboard), masking the hinted atonality in the melody with romanticism. The prolonged coda, supported by vibraphone, harp, quiet trumpets and strings, features variations on a G-minor chord – some bright, some moody, infinitely changing.

III. Con brio (5 minutes) is a virtuosic dance in perpetual motion. Here, the syncopated orchestral figuration periodically “interrupts” the scherzo-like violin solo, until the two switch roles. Perhaps more than the previous two movements, the finale incorporates influences from non-western music, especially in the treatment of the rhythm and gestures such as slides and glissandos. An accumulation of materials sends the piece to a climax at the end, like the countless candlelight dancing with the wind in the dark night, illuminating light and hope.

—Zhou Tian

14/07/2022

2018 SISIVC winner Nancy Zhou will perform Jiping Zhao's violin concerto on July 20 with the New Jersey Symphony at Lincoln Center under the baton of Maestra Xian Zhang. Brava, Nancy!!

https://www.lincolncenter.org/lincoln-center-at-home/show/eastwest-a-symphonic-celebration-359

12/07/2022

🎻📣MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT! After being postponed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition (SISIVC) announces the decision to change its competition system. The six candidates that have reached the final round will not be competing for rankings. Instead, they will jointly present a concert entitled “In Tribute to Isaac Stern’s Centennial SISIVC Winners’ Concert” from August 26-28, available to watch on SISIVC’s official social media channels.

The third SISIVC applications were sent out in August 2019. According to the original plan, the preliminary round was to be completed online at the beginning of 2020, and the quarter-final, semi-final and final rounds were to take place in Shanghai from August 4 to 25. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the schedules of many international events worldwide, and the 2020 SISIVC made the decision to postpone the competition.

In August 2021, six candidates – Rino Yoshimoto (Japan), Thomas Lefort (France), Ruifeng Lin (China), Felicitas Schiffner (Germany), Angela Sin Ying Chan (Hong Kong, China), and Shannon Lee (United States) – entered the final round after eight days of intense competition online.

“This is a complex decision from the Organisation Committee, which won the unanimous understanding and support from the jury and candidates,” according to the spokesperson for the SISIVC Organisation Committee. “What we can confirm is that the high standard of the competition and our support for the candidates will not be compromised because of the present health crisis.”

The Organisation Committee reached the final decision after receiving unanimous approval from the jury committee. On June 20, the Organisation Committee and the chairpersons of the jury committee – Mr. David Stern and Ms. Vera Tsu Weiling – hosted an online conference with the six candidates, when the resolution was officially announced.

In the new plan, 2020 SISIVC will not decide the rankings of the six candidates in the final round of the competition. Instead, the candidates will need to perform the repertoire of the final round including two concerto performances: a concerto of their choice plus ‘Night Tour’ by Zhou Tian, a piece commissioned by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO). Zhou Tian is the first Chinese musician to be nominated for a Grammy Award for the Best Contemporary Classical Composition. These videos will be released online from August 26-28, in a final competitors’ concert. Each of the six candidates will be awarded a certificate for entering the final round of the 2020 SISIVC, as well as a scholarship of $20,000 USD for their future education and career development. In preparation for their videos, each candidate will receive support from the SISIVC to pay for their expenses incurred in order to guarantee a professional quality recording experience.

Long Yu - 余隆 – President of the Organisation Committee and Music Director of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra - 上海交响乐团 – comments, “Performing artists, especially musicians, are and will always be able to achieve the biggest impact by playing in front of a live audience. Competing online would help us decide the ranking of each candidate, but the ultimate goal of the competition is not ranking. This is just a means to discover and support musicians. Under the current circumstances, it is more important to effectively send these six candidates on track to the next chapter of their music journey. That’s why we have decided to provide them with scholarships and continued support measures, in order to help them head into the future with an easier and more determined path. The jury members were touched by this plan too. They saw in it the organizers’ respect for music and young musicians.”

The jury committee will not give scores for each performance, but they will provide detailed reactions of each candidate’s performance, acting as mentors rather than competition jury members.

Mr. David Stern said “I am very proud of the imaginative solution that the SISIVC has put in place in order to bring the 2020 competition to a just conclusion. The continuing difficulties connected to the pandemic have obligated us to invent an entirely new outcome. The six talented candidates who managed to make it to the finals already deserve credit for persevering during these difficult times. Offering these young people an equal amount of money as a scholarship and planning future concert appearances with China’s premier orchestras shows that the SISIVC is committed to supporting young talent beyond the expected competition structure. These six musicians represent the future, and our job is to be part of a worldwide network that is committed to supporting them.”

For more information about SISIVC, please visit sisivc.shsymphony.com

22/08/2021

We are thrilled to announce the 2020 SISIVC Finalists! The decision was extraordinarily difficult and the jury wishes to thank all of the quarter and semi-finalists who worked so hard and performed at such a high level.

Without further ado, the six finalists who will go on to compete in Shanghai next year are:

Rino Yoshimoto, Japan (18)
Thomas Lefort, France (27)
Ruifeng Lin, China (21)
Felicitas Schiffner, Germany (24)
Angela Sin Ying Chan, Hong Kong, China (24)
Shannon Lee, United States (29)

21/08/2021

August 20, 2021, 1:23 AM · While I was listening on my computer to the virtual semi-finals in the 2020 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition, I suddenly heard applause coming from the other room.

19/08/2021

SISIVC 2020 Semi Finals - Day 2 - Session 2

Programme:

KayCee Galano (Philippines)
Section 1: Sonata and Virtuoso Piece
- Johannes Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50

Charlie Lovell-Jones (United Kingdom)
Section 1: Sonata and Virtuoso Piece
- Johannes Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50

Angela Sin Ying Chan (Hong Kong, China)
Section 1: Sonata and Virtuoso Piece
- Johannes Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50

Shannon Lee (United States)
Section 1: Sonata and Virtuoso Piece
- Johannes Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Romance No. 1 in G major, Op. 40

19/08/2021

SISIVC 2020 Semi Finals - Day 2 - Session 1

Programme:

William Lee (Taiwan, China)
Section 1: Sonata and Virtuoso Piece
- Johannes Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 1 in G major, Op. 78
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Romance No. 1 in G major, Op. 40

Ruifeng Lin (China)
Section 1: Sonata and Virtuoso Piece
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5 in F major, Op. 24
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50

Felicitas Schiffner (Germany)
Section 1: Sonata and Virtuoso Piece
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5 in F major, Op. 24
- Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50

18/08/2021

A recap of the 1st day of the Semi-Final round from Violinist.com 🎻

August 18, 2021, 4:03 PM · The virtual semi-finals started on Wednesday in the 2020 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition, with participants each contributing their performances from various corners of the globe. (The competition is keeping its "2020" designation because of Isaac St...

17/08/2021

Announcing our 2020 SISIVC Semi-Finalists!

Beginning at 1:00pm on 18 August (GMT+8) through 21 August, these 13 talented violinists will compete via their pre-recorded repertoire. The jury will select 6 violinists to move on to the Final Round, which will take place in Shanghai in 2022.

SISIVC will stream the Semi-Finals on our Facebook and YouTube pages and through our media partners.

Repertoire for the Semi-Final Round:

1. ONE violin sonata from the following list:

- L. V. Beethoven: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 5 in F major, Op. 24;
- Johannes Brahms: Sonata for Violin and Piano No.1 in G major, Op. 78;

2. ONE Violin Romance by L. V. Beethoven:

- Violin Romance No. 1 in G major, Op. 40;
- Violin Romance No. 2 in F major, Op. 50.

Section 2: Mozart Concerto (with piano accompaniment)

1) W. A. Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major, K. 218.
Note: contestants have composed his/her own improvisational cadenza, no longer than 5 minutes each movement