Music Comes Alive Through the Art of Interpretation

Lately here at Strings, we’ve been working on producing three upcoming Strings Charts titles that will be published and released in the next few months. As the music editor for the project, let me tell you that the process is both fascinating and enlightening!
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In This Issue of Strings. . .

Just as they weather time itself, fine violins fair well in tumultuous economic times, and if you want to make a good investment follow these simple rules. By Philip Kass.
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Perlman Lauds Simón Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra

Violinist Itzhak Perlman performed with the Venezuelan Simón Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Gustavo Dudamel and shared some kind words with the Associated Press last week. “What’s absolutely fantastic is the intensity of the musical involvement of all the young people in the orchestra,” Perlman told the AP. “It’s a pleasure for me to look at them and see how they're involved in what they’re doing.”

Ray Chen Wins Queen Elisabeth Competition

Australian violinist Ray Chen celebrated his 20th birthday last week, which was made all the more sweet by his first-place finish at the 2009 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium. For the win, Chen receives €20,000, numerous concerts, a CD recording, and a three-year loan of the 1708 “Huggins” Stradavari violin. Chen, who is of Taiwanese descent, made headlines last year for a first-place finish in the 25th Menuhin International Violin Competition in Cardiff, Wales, and for teaming up with Maxim Vengerov for a performance with the Mariinsky Theatre Symphony Orchestra in St. Petersburg, Russia. For a full list of winners, click here.

San Francisco Competition Lines Up International Talent

The annual Irving M. Klein International String Competition is being held at San Francisco State University through June 14. Of the 62 entrants between the ages of 15 and 23 who were reviewed, eight have been named as semifinalists and will showcase their skills and vie for cash prizes, solo appearances with the Peninsula and Santa Cruz symphonies, and recital appearances in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Napa Valley in California. The semifinalists include violinists Eunice Kim, 17, of Daly City; So Jin Kim, 23, of South Korea; Nikki Chooi, 19, of Victoria, Canada; and Xiang Yu, 20, of Shanghai, China; violist Vicki Powell, 20, of Chicago, Illinois; and cellists Meta Weiss, 21, of Houston Texas; Jacqueline Choi, 22, of Old Tappan, New Jersey; and SuJin Lee, 17, of South Korea. Semifinal and final rounds are open to the public. kleincompetition.org/

Spoleto USA Designates Heir to Artistic Director

St. Lawrence String Quartet violinist Geoff Nuttall has been designated the Charles E. and Andrea L. Volpe Artistic Director for Chamber Music of the Spoleto Festival USA. He’ll replace longtime director Charles Wadsworth in 2010. Nuttall and the SLSQ first performed at the festival in 1995.

BBC Premieres Michael Berkeley’s ‘Gabriel’s Lament

The BBC National Orchestra of Wales with conductor Thierry Fischer will perform the world premiere of “Gabriel’s Lament,” a new work by Michael Berkeley, on June 19 in Cardiff. Berkeley began work on the piece, which was inspired by the sound of humpback whales singing, after the death of close family friend Gabriel Bailey. Another friend, conductor Richard Hickox, passed away while Berkeley was writing the piece. “This piece could be nothing else but a heartfelt ‘In Memoriam’ to both Richard and Gabriel,” Berkeley says. The concert will be broadcast live on BBC radio 3 and can be heard online here.

Sergey Malov Wins Tokyo International Viola Competition

Viola Space’s first-ever Tokyo International Viola Competition has found its champion in Russian violist Sergey Malov. Malov, who won first prize and the audience prize at the third Jascha Heifetz Competition in Vilnius in January, studied at University Mozarteum Salzburg in Austria with Prof. Thomas Riebl, who served in the competition’s jury along with Nobuko Imai, Kim Kashkashian, and others.