Dues to work commitments, I was able to only attend three sessions in the semi-finals of the Singapore International Violin Competition, held in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory on 14-16 January. Having heard six of the twelve semi-finalists, I was amazed at the stunningly high standards of playing. There was little to separate each of the artists. as he or she had something relevant to say in their hour-long programme, which included a Beethoven sonata, a romantic or 20th century sonata, a virtuoso show-piece and the competition's set-piece, kilo
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| Millions of dollars worth of Rin Collection violins sit proudly in the Conservatory foyer. |
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| Anna Lee (South Korea) opened the semi-final stage with a show of confidence. |
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| Fedor Rudin (France) was his usual cool self, performing without a hint of nerves. |
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| Sirena Huang (USA) had the chutzpah of performing Emily Koh's murderously difficult and atonal kilo |
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| Alexandra Conunova (Moldova) was an Amazonian presence, who impressed with the rarely heard Francis Poulenc Violin Sonata. |
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| Chairperson of the competition jury Qian Zhou (in blue and white floral dress) mingling with the audience. |
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| Singaporean violinist David Loke, member of the YST Conservatory Orchestra, tries out a Strad by playing sections of Glazunov's Violin Concerto. |
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| Home town favourite and only Singaporean left in the competition, Loh Jun Hong, gave masterly performances of Brahms' Violin Sonata No.2 and Wieniawski's Faust Fantasy, partnered by Abigail Sin. |
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| A violinist who caught my attention was Chisa Kitagawa (Japan) who is only 17-years-old but performs like a mature and seasoned veteran. Her take on Ysaye's Sonata No.6 was stunning and simply fearless. |
The six finalists chosen by the 9-member jury were as follows (in order of performance):
Fedor Rudin (France)
Sirena Huang (USA)
Alexandra Conunova (Moldova)
Yu-Chien Tseng (Taiwan)
Richard Lin (Taiwan) and
Hyun Jae Lim (South Korea)
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