Quarterfinalists Announced For The 2nd Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition

The Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition (SISIVC) has announced the 36 quarterfinalists invited to participate in the live competition rounds in Shanghai beginning August 10, 2018. The candidates were chosen from a total of 174 applicants and hail from ten countries.

The chosen candidates will compete in three rounds over the course of three weeks for a grand prize of $100,000 - the largest monetary prize of any international music competition - with a second and third prize of $50,000 and $25,000, respectively. Additionally, a prize of $10,000 will be awarded for the best performance of the Chinese work - Qigang Chen's La joie de la souffrance. Furthermore, in honor of Isaac Stern, $10,000 will be awarded as an Isaac Stern Prize to an individual - in any field and from any part of the world - who is deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to the understanding of humanity through music.

The fifteen-member jury of the Competition comprises esteemed violinists and pedagogues including co-chair David Stern ­(son of Isaac Stern), Maxim Vengerov, Daniel Heifetz, and Vera Tsu Weiling.

The candidates are as follows:

Yurina Arai, Japan
Marie Bégin, Canada
Jiayi Chen, China
Yige Chen, China
Ellinor D'Melon, Jamaica
Hiu Sing Fan, Hong Kong, China
Mone Hattori, Japan
Shucong He, China
Valerie Kim, United States
Alina Kobialka, United States
Miyeon Lee, South Korea
William Lee, Taiwan, China
Quanshuai Li, China
Po-Yu Lin, Taiwan, China
Ruifeng Lin, China
Zhen Liu, China
Petr Lundstrem, Russia
Ashley Park, United States
Diana Pasko, Russia
Eva Rabchevska, Ukraine
Arsenis Selalmazidis, Greece
Dmitry Smirnov, Russia
Ji Won Song, South Korea
Olga Šroubková, Czech
Sophia Su, United States
Anna Tanaka, Japan
Yun Tang, China
Chang Yuan Ting, Canada
Diana Tishchenko, Ukraine
Chieri Tomii, Japan
Jacqueline Tso, United States
Jiazhi Wang, China
Runyin Zhang, China
Alex Zhou, United States
Jin Zhou, China
Nancy Zhou, United States

Founded in 2015, Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition (SISIVC) is Shanghai's first world-class violin competition. The Competition takes its name from Isaac Stern to commemorate the musical spirit of Maestro Stern by which a young generation of musicians can be inspired and motivated.

Along with a grand prize of $100,000 USD ­- the highest monetary award of any international music competition, a jury of renowned artists and a unique performance process, the Competition leverages the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra platform with extensive resources around the world ­- including close cooperation with famous orchestras, such as China Philharmonic Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The Competition also provides promising contestants with great opportunities including arranging concert tours, album recording and introductions to world-class music agencies, enabling prosperous careers and encouraging winners to embrace their artistic dreams.

For more information on #SISIVC2018, please visit: www.shcompetition.com.