On Saturday 8th June three sizzling-hot young violinists will play a concerto of their choice with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Join us for the live broadcast from 7:30pm on air and streaming on our Facebook page and website.

The three finalists for 2019 are…

Jevgēnijs Čepoveckis 

The 23-year-old Latvian violinist has chosen Shostakovich’s Concerto in A minor Op 99.

Jevgēnijs is also a talented violist. During the quarter-final rounds Jevgēnijs he showed his versatility performing the hypnotic Nigun from Baal Shem on viola.

Do Gyung (Anna) Im

This 21-year-old violinist from South Korea has chosen Sibelius’ Concerto in D minor as her concerto.

In the quarter-finals she captivated audiences with her thrilling performance of Grieg’s Sonata No 3 Op 45.

Eric Tsai

A semifinalist in the Menuhin Competition 2018, Eric Tsai from the USA will play Shostakovich’s Concerto in A minor Op 99 in the final round of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition 2019.

In the quarter-finals Eric played Paganini’s dazzling Caprice No 5 from the Caprices Op 1

Join us on Saturday night at 7:30pm to see who will win the top prize.

Tune in earlier (from 7pm) to hear luthier Richard Panting debating the pros and cons of old versus new violins with Bruno Price and Ziv Arazi from Rare Violins of New York.

During the talk, Michael Hill Competition Emerging Artist Diane Huh will play six different instruments including one Richard Panting made, adjudicator Ning Feng’s new violin, Sir Michael Hill’s 18th century Guadagnini, a Stradivarius from 1712 and the “ex Christian Ferras” Amati (1645), which will be loaned to the winner of the Arancio Prize, announced on Saturday night. Apparently it sounds like dark chocolate!