2013 Competition > Keeping Up With The Play > Tue 4 June 2013

Heading to Auckland

All our semi-finalists headed to Auckland today as we enter the next phase of the Competition. We grabbed our top six semi-finalists for a quick snap before they dashed to board their flight.

Tomorrow three of our six top semi-finalists rehearse with Ashley Brown (cello) and Michael Houstoun (piano) before the first of the Round III performances at the Concert Chamber, Auckland Town Hall at 7.30pm.

While our semi-finalists have been busy, so have our development prize winners. New Zealand Development Prize winner Ben Baker and Australian Development Prize winner James Dong performed at a special lunch at The Hills yesterday.

Development and education is a big part of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition and school students attend our top six semi-finalists rehearsals, while Classroom Conversations take place at a number of Auckland secondary schools.

Masterclasses with our international jurors also provide opportunities for and talented New Zealand violinists to expand their skills and further develop as players. Already we have held masterclasses in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

This week masterclasses take place in Auckland and Hamilton with Dmitry Sitkovetsky, James Ehnes, Ida Kavafian, Christian Altenburger and Ning Feng. The 12 semi-finalists who have not made it in to the next round have the option to attend these masterclasses as well.

Don’t forget you can vote for your favourite violinist via text voting (New Zealand only) or online and we’ll be keeping you up with the play as the Competition progresses this week.