Following two electric evenings of Semi-finals at Auckland’s Town Hall, and four days of Quarter-finals in Queenstown before that, the three Finalists moving on to the ultimate round of the 2019 Competition were announced tonight. From 16 Quarter-finalists, to six Semi-finalists, the three violinists moving on to the Grand Finale are (in their performance order and with their selected concerto): Jevgēnijs Čepoveckis (Latvia) - Shostakovich: Concerto in A minor Op 99 Do Gyung (Anna) Im (South Korea) - Sibelius: Concerto in D…

L-R: Victoria Wong, Eric Tsai, Angela Sin Ying Chan, Sir Michael Hill, Christine, Lady Hill, Anna Im, Jevgēnijs Čepoveckis, Hannah Cho After an intensive four days of competition in Rounds 1 and 2, our International Jury have agreed and announced the six Semi-finalists who will progress to the next round of the Competition. They are, in their performance order: Wednesday: Do Gyung (Anna) Im (South Korea) - Quintet in G minor K516 Victoria Wong (Australia) - Quintet in C major K515 Hannah Cho…

This year is our tenth competition. So, for fun, we've hunted down some interesting facts you might not already know about our 2019 competitors. Our youngest competitor is Emmalena Huning at 18 years old. She hasn’t started university yet, but has a spot waiting for her at the Royal Academy of Music in London Competitor Matthias Ward will be performing his Ad Libitum (work of choice) with Queenstown local Mark Wilson accompanying him. Mark Wilson is an accordionist…

IN THE CONCERT HALL AND ON THE LIVE STREAM ON SUNDAY 2 JUNE (Note: these are all NZ Standard Time) 9.30 – 10.00am        INSIDERS' GUIDE Lyell Cresswell: Commissioning Chatoyance – Our 2019 commissioned composer talks about his compositional process with our Artistic Adviser, Dene Olding, who has been an integral part of the Competitions’ new works throughout the years. 10:00 – 10.45am         Rimma Benyumova (Russia) 10:45 - 11:30am      Emmalena Huning (Australia) BREAK 11.45am – 12.30pm         Do…

TODAY, IN THE CONCERT HALL AND ON THE LIVE STREAM: (Note: these are all NZ Standard Time) 9.30 – 10.00am: INSIDER’S GUIDE Q&A Martin Riseley Paganini: What was he thinking! – Martin uncovers the organized mayhem of the Caprices with a sampling of some of the devilish difficulties 10:00 – 10:40am       Victoria Wong (Australia) 10:40 - 11:20am       Choi Tung (Cherry) Yeung (Hong Kong) BREAK 11.35am – 12.15pm           Angela Sin Ying Chan (Hong Kong) 12.15 – 12.55pm        Sophie…

TODAY, IN THE CONCERT HALL AND ON THE LIVE STREAM: (Note: these are all NZ Standard Time) 2.30 – 3.00pm INSIDERS' GUIDE Q&A (Martin Riseley, "Fiendish Fugues") 3:00 – 3.40pm  Rimma Benyumova (Russia) 3:40 - 4:20pm Emmalena Huning (Australia) BREAK 4.35 – 5.15pm  Do Gyung (Anna) Im (South Korea) 5.15 – 5.55pm Harry Ward (Australia) DINNER BREAK 7.00 – 7.40pm Tianyu Liu (China) 7.40 – 8.20pm  MairéadHickey - Violinist (Ireland) BREAK 8:40 - 9:20pm Jacqueline Audas (USA) 9.20 – 10.00pm…