10 year old Christian Li and 11 year old Chloe Chua have been awarded joint 1st prize in the Junior Division of the 2018 Menuhin Competition
This year’s Junior Final, featuring violinists aged between 10 and 13, took place in Victoria Hall, Geneva
For the first time in its history, the Menuhin Competition Junior Division first prize has been shared – by 11-year-old Chloe Chua and 10-year-old Christian Li – following a Final held at Geneva’s Victoria Hall this evening.
Six Finalists, whittled down from 22 competitors aged between 10 and 15 over two previous live rounds, directed the L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève from the violin in one of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and also performed the world premiere of the new commission for solo violin by Jaehyuck Choi.
Chua from Singapore and Li from Australia (also the contest’s youngest ever finalist) each receive a first prize of CHF 10,000, plus the one-year loan of a fine old Italian violin by Florian Leonhard Fine Violins.
Third prize, worth CHF 5,000 goes to 13-year-old Ruibing Liu from China, while 12-year-old Clara Shen from Germany receives fourth prize worth CHF 3,000.
13-year-old Hina Khuong-Huu from USA/Japan/France receives fifth prize worth CHF 2,000, and 12-year-old Guido Sant’anna from Brazil receives sixth prize of CHF 1,500.
The Senior Final takes place tomorrow evening, during which four finalists, aged between 17 and 20, will perform a concerto in Victoria Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Julian Rachlin.
The biennial Menuhin Competition is taking place from 12-22 April in Geneva, Switzerland. The 2018 jury comprises Joji Hattori, Itamar Golan, Ilya Gringolts, Henning Kraggerud, Lu Siqing, Josef Špaček, Maxim Vengerov, Soyoung Yoon and jury chair Pamela Frank.
The Menuhin Competition 2016 Senior Division was won by Ziyu He, while Yesong Sophie Lee triumphed in the Junior Division.
10 year old Christian Li from Australia and 11 year old Chloe Chua from Singapore have just minutes ago been awarded joint 1st prize in the Junior Division of the 2018 Menuhin Competition – in Geneva, Switzerland.
3rd prizes was awarded to 13-year-old Ruibing Liu from China.
4th, 5th and 6th prizes were awarded to 12-year-old Clara Shen from Germany, 13-year-old Hina Khuong-Huu from United States/Japan/France and 12-year-old Guido Sant’Anna from Brazil.
A student of Dr Robin Wilson, Head of Strings at the Australian National Music Academy, Christian is a former 1st prize winner at the Young Artist Semper Music International Violin Competition, in Italy.
A student of Yin Ke at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts School for Young Talents in Singapore, Chloe is a former major prize winner at the Postacchini International Violin Competition and the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians.
CHRISTIAN LI | VIVALDI | 2018 MENUHIN COMPETITION | JUNIOR DIVISION JOINT 1ST PRIZE | 10 YEARS OLD
CHLOE CHUA | VIVALDI | 2018 MENUHIN COMPETITION | JUNIOR DIVISION JOINT 1ST PRIZE | 11 YEARS OLD
RUIBING LIU | 2018 MENUHIN COMPETITION | JUNIOR DIVISION 3RD PRIZE | 13 YEARS OLD
CLARA SHEN | 2018 MENUHIN COMPETITION | JUNIOR DIVISION 4TH PRIZE | 12 YEARS OLD
HINA KHUOUNG-HUU | 2018 MENUHIN COMPETITION | JUNIOR DIVISION 5TH PRIZE | 12 YEARS OLD
GUIDO SANT’ANNA | 2018 MENUHIN COMPETITION | JUNIOR DIVISION 6TH PRIZE | 12 YEARS OLD
This year’s junior division Arte Concert online voting prize was awarded to Guido Sant’Anna.
This year’s junior division audience prize was awarded to Christian Li.
Christian and Chloe will receive CHF 10,000 and the 1-year loan of a fine Italian instrument – courtesy of Florian Leonhard Fine Violins.
Widely recognized as the world’s leading competition for violinists under the age of 16, previous Menuhin Competition Junior Division 1st prize winners include VC Young Artists Chad Hoopes, Kevin Zhu, Rennosuke Fukuda, Kerson Leong and Yesong Sophie Lee.
The 2018 jury comprised: Jury chair Pamela Frank, Vice chair Joji Hattori, Itamar Golan, Ilya Gringolts, Henning Kraggerud, Lu Siqing, Maxim Vengerov, Soyoung Yoon and VC Artist Josef Spacek.