The violin in all its glory: The opening of the 7th Hannover International Violin Competition

September 23, 2009. The Hannover International Violin Competition, presented by the Stiftung Niedersachsen (Foundation of Lower Saxony), will be ceremoniously launched at the State Opera House in Hannover at 7.30 p.m. on the coming Saturday, September 26: Suyoen Kim, winner of the First Prize at the previous competition in 2006, is giving a concert with the Lower Saxony State Orchestra Hannover under its General Music Director Wolfgang Bozic. The 21-year-old violinist, who has already appeared with famous conductors and major orchestras, will be playing the Violin Concerto Op. 82 by Alexander Glazunov; also on the program are the Symphony in E minor Op. 95, ›From the New World‹, by Antonín Dvorák, and Mikhail Glinka's overture to ›Ruslan and Ludmilla‹.

Before the opening concert, the competitors will learn what order they are to appear in. The luck of the draw will decide who will be the first, at 4.30 p.m. on Sunday, September 27, to mount the stage for the most highly endowed violin competition in the world. The concerts of the Preliminary Rounds I and II will take place at the University of Music and Drama Hannover at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. each day up until October 2. The repertoire is diverse, including works by Bach, Ysaÿe and Beethoven and of the competitors' own choice. The only compulsory piece in the preliminary round is the ›Romance Op. 2, No.1‹ by Joseph Joachim (1831 - 1907), to whom the competition is dedicated. During the two preliminary rounds, the school students from all over the state who are involved in the complementary program ›The Competition in the Classroom‹ will also be very much in evidence at the University, where they will be ›special guests‹.

But even before the first of the young competitors plays his or her first note, interested members of the audience can get into the mood at the first of four events forming the discussion series ›Audience Adademy‹: Klaus Georg Koch promises a glimpse behind the scenes as he questions the International Jury at 3.30 p.m. on September 27. At the subsequent ›Academies‹, world star Gidon Kremer, composer Johannes Schöllhorn and violin maker Christian Erichson will all have something to say, while Irene Schulte-Hillen, Axel Horstmann and Dirk Rossmann will discuss parallels between competition in music and in business.

The semifinal begins at 10 a.m. on October 3, with the world premiere of Johannes Schöllhorn's ›oreade‹ for violin and piano. From October 4 onwards, the violinists will be playing the popular Mozart and Haydn concertos, accompanied by the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of the Polish Radio conducted by Agnieszka Duczmal. In accordance with tradition, the final round concerts on October 8 and 9 will take place at the NDR State Broadcasting House, with the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Nicholas Milton. The Prize Winners' Gala Concert at 7.30 p.m. on October 10 will also take place there, and will be broadcast live on the radio channel ›NDR Kultur‹.

All the appearances and concerts of the young virtuosi, and the announcements of the semifinalists, the finalists and finally the prize winners, will be put out on the internet by live streaming at www.violin-competition.de. In addition, a video documentation called the ›Competition Diaries‹ will be produced in a number of episodes and will also be made available online.

The Hannover International Violin Competition – dedicated to Joseph Joachim – was founded in 1991 and is presented every three years by the Stiftung Niedersachsen in cooperation with the University of Music and Drama Hannover, the NDR (North German Broadcasting) and the Staatsoper Hannover. The Hannover International Violin Competition is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions, Geneva, and is taking place for the 7th time from September 26 through October 10, 2009.

Tickets can be obtained in advance from ticket agencies throughout the country, online at www.violin-competition.de, by telephone on +49 (0)511 168-41222, or from September 27 onwards from the box office on the day.

Press photos and further information are available at www.violin-competition.de. Press queries can be directed to Anke Schauer on +49 (0)511 - 990 54 18 (office) or +49 (0)511 - 3100-218 (University of Music and Drama), or by email to schauer@violin-competition.de.