It is bitter sweet for us to announce that we've lost two competitors to the Queen Elisabeth Competition this year. We are delighted for Shannon Lee and Ji Won Song who will battle it out this week in Brussels, and wish them all the best. On the flip side, it means we will now welcome to New Zealand Choi Tung Yeung (at right) from Hong Kong, and Emmalena Huning from Australia. We can only imagine how they are feeling having been…
Violin-lovers can relive the magic between Competitions, because 2017 winner Ioana Cristina Goicea’s new album, Recital, was recently released on the Atoll label. The album includes repertoire by George Enescu, (a nod to Ioana’s Romanian heritage), and music by Johannes Brahms and Franz Schubert completing the offering. The recording is based on the finale live performance of Ioana Cristina’s 2018 winner’s tour with Andrey Gugnin (winner of the 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition). Ioana described it as “one…
Photography by Mikel Hoyle and Anne Rodda. On the last day of October we close the chapter of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition 2018 Winner’s Tour by featuring the stories, concert reviews and adventures of Ioana Cristina Goicea who saw off her tour last week with performing the Shostakovich Violin Concerto with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra at the Auckland Town Hall. The week prior, Ioana undertook a variety of community outreach projects: she judged the Auckland Chamber…
Keep Up With The Play Part 5. What girl wants, what girl needs... As you might know our Russian-Romanian duo had turned into a female solo straight after Andrey Gugnin went back to Russia last week. His departure was a time for bittersweet emotions and goodbyes, but, who knows when those two meet again and inspire the audiences with their fantastic combined artistry? Winners’ Tour 2018, as a part of The Michael Hill International Violin Competition, was definitely…
Keep Up With The Play Part 4. When the tour approaches its end, another opportunity comes along... Photography by Andrey Gugnin and Anne Rodda Last time you checked what our duo was up to, Ioana and Andrey were enjoying themselves on both sides of the Tasman - Sydney, Melbourne, and Whangarei. Feel free to scroll through their memories from that touring moment by clicking here. Since then our musicians moved to the lower part of the North Island to enjoy…
Keep Up With The Play Part 3. Tour adventures across the Tasman Photography by Andrey Gugnin and Anne Rodda Do you remember how the Winners’ Tour started? It felt like yesterday when Ioana and Andrey met for the first time in the Sydney International Airport. Early last week they flew back to Sydney thanks to performances offered to them by Musica Viva Australia. Ioana and Andrey performed at the Melbourne Recital Centre and at The Independent Theatre in Sydney. https://www.instagram.com/p/BoaPq1XnbSQ/…
Keep Up With The Play Part 2. The magic of South Island Photography Ioana Cristina Goicea. Aren’t we are lucky that we can share some of the Winners’ tour stories with you that happened last week? A much as Ioana and Andrey are having fun seeing the scenery of the South Island, our Romanian-Russian duo is passionately devoted to their main calling - inspiring the audiences by playing brilliant concerts around the country. It requires a lot of…
Keep Up With The Play Part 1. The first week of the Winners' tour 2018. Photography Sheena Haywood, Anne Rodda, Andrey Gugnin. The first prize winner of Michael Hill International Violin Competition 2017 Ioana Cristina Goicea, and the winner of the 2016 Sydney International Piano Competition, Andrey Gugnin, met for the first time in the Sydney International Airport last Wednesday. They caught the same flight over the Tasman to land in magnificent Queenstown - one of the dreamy…
