Competing violinists find joy in suffering

THE final ranking was announced at the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition as the three-week competition closed on Saturday.

Nancy Zhou from the United States took first prize, winning US$100,000.

The second prize of US$50,000 went to Olga Šroubková from Czech Republic.

Diana Tishchenko of Ukraine was awarded the third prize of US$25,000.

All six finalists performed a concerto of their choice and concerto “The Joy of Suffering,” by Chen Qigang, a Chinese-born French composer.

Sroubkova also won the award for the Best Performance of a Chinese Work due for her expression of Chen’s piece.

Chinese violinists Chen Jiayi and Tang Yun took fourth and sixth positions, in the final ranking.

“I’m very happy that the expressive level of the Chinese violinists has become much stronger since two years ago. I believe that they have gone a step away from imitating to finding their own way of interpretation,” said David Stern, co-chairman of the jury.

Founded in 2015 and first held in 2016, the biennial competition is Shanghai’s first world-class violin competition.

Named after Isaac Stern, one of the first group of foreign musicians to visit China in the early days of reform and opening up, the competition aims to inspire and motivate the next generation of musicians.