2019 Emerging Artist Prize

Put your hands together for young Auckland violinist Diane Huh, just announced as the winner of the MHIVC 2019 Emerging Artist Prize!

Diane is a student of Stephen Larsen at the University of Auckland, where she recently won the 2019 Concerto Competition.

As part of her prize, the 22-year-old violinist will receive the two-year loan of the Riccardo Bergonzi violin, return airfare to attend the 2020 Rome Chamber Music Festival, and a raft of professional development and performance opportunities, as well as being able to attend all of the competition sessions in Queenstown and Auckland as a VIP.

Diane is particularly excited about this aspect of the prize.

“The Michael Hill International Violin Competition has been an integral part of my life as a local who has seen the competition progress through the years,” she says, and having only had the chance to listen via streaming to the Queenstown rounds in the past, she can’t wait to be soaking it all up in Queentown in person.

“Being able to listen and directly interact with the competition environment would inspire my musical experience of watching high‐class performances over numerous composers and styles of music, ultimately broadening my artistic view of music making,” she says.

The Rome Chamber Music Festival was founded by world-renowned violinist Robert McDuffie in 2003 and is one of Rome’s most anticipated cultural events.

Each June over a five-day period, in the beautiful Palazzo Barberini, a landmark of Baroque architecture, the festival presents diverse programs of masterworks performed by prominent artists and aspiring music talents. It has played to full houses of chamber music enthusiasts from around the world, has received brilliant reviews every year. The festival is endorsed by the Embassies of the United States of America to Italy and to the Holy See, as well as the City of Rome and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs.

Congratulations, Diane!