The Kendall National Violin Competition has announced eight semi-finalists who will perform on August 5 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
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The young violinists were selected through blind audition from submitted recordings, judged by a panel of seven previous winners of the competition.
The competition received entries from around Australia but the semi-finalists selected are all from Sydney and Melbourne.
The musicians include Sarah Chang (Sydney), Karla Hanna (Melbourne), Olivia Kowalik (Sydney), Gemma Lee (Sydney), Emily Su (Sydney), Johnny van Gend (Melbourne), Dandan Wang (Melbourne) and Dindin Wang (Melbourne).
Two of the semi-finalists are the youngest ever in the history of the competition and the first set of twins. Dandan and Dindin Wang are 12-year-old twin sisters.
Semi-finalist Johnny van Gend is the nephew of well known local, Marie van Gend. Johnny was in the finals in 2017.
The Kendall National Violin Competition is celebrating its 20th year in 2018.
Previous winners have included some of Australia’s most gifted and successful violinists including international soloist Ray Chen.
Kendall National Violin Competition artistic director Goetz Richter said 2018 is a milestone year for the competition.
“An opportunity to be so proud and grateful for all the support and attention the competition has received in the past two decades,” he said.
“Welcoming previous winners as judges to the first round shows the important contribution the competition has made to the development of musicians’ lives.
“I am very excited about the birthday celebration and the ongoing transformation of this unique event”
The judges of the first round included Marianne Broadfoot (2002 winner), Katherine Lukey (2004 winner), Jonathan Mui (2007 winner), Liisa Pallandi (2010 winner), Anna da Silva Chen (2011 winner), James Dong (2012 winner), Yejin Min (2014 winner).
The semi-finals on August 5 start at 10.15am at the Sydney Conservatorium.
The eight violinists will perform a short recital each.
Following their performance, four of the young violinists will be invited to the finals of the competition in Kendall on September 15.
The main prize of the competition is a concert violin made by master luthier Michal Prokop.
Additional prizes include the Joan Levy Memorial award as well as a number of cash prizes.
For more information about the competition please visit www.kendallviolin.org.au or contact Mavis Barnes on 6559 4339 or mavis.barnes@bigpond.com
