The competitors' list for the 1997 Hannover International Violin Competition was set today: 46 young soloists from 16 countries will be putting their musical talents to the test in Hannover from the 5th to the 18th of October. The Foundation of Lower Saxony (Stiftung Niedersachsen) -- which presents the triennial competition -- makes an important contribution to the development of young musicians with this event. The prize package of cash awards of 140,000 German Marks (about $85,000), a CD production and debut concerts make this competition the largest of its kind. The 1997 competition is the third edition.
Over 450 young musicians world-wide wrote in for competition materials following last November's call for applications. This exceeded even the Foundation's own expectations, according to Linda Anne Engelhardt, the competition's executive director. »This was our most international group yet, with 116 candidates from 27 countries.«
Christian Altenburger (Vienna and Hannover), Robert Masters (London) and Kurt Sassmannshaus (Cincinnati) were the renowned members of the Selection Committee. Together with Krzysztof Wegrzyn, the competition's artistic director, they spent the week listening to the application tapes and studying the applications and recommendations, to reduce the field to 46 invitees. »Considering the number of outstanding talents we heard, it was no easy job to make the decisions,« the jury summed it up at the end of the week.
71 young women and 45 young men applied to the Hannover competition. As in 1991 and 1994, the strongest contingents were violinists from Japan, the USA, Germany and Russia. The youngest musician invited to Hannover just turned 16 this spring, the senior member of the group is 28. Altogether, 30 young women and 16 young men will be competing.
The program structure has been revised for the 1997 competition. The young artists choose a good portion of the program themselves, making it a better reflection of their individuality. »The idea of letting the competitors play a major role in putting together their repertories lets them show much more clearly their own approach, and in this way, their musical personalities«, Krzysztof Wegrzyn noted.
The Hannover International Violin Competition which has been presented triennially by the Foundation of Lower Saxony since 1991, is dedicated to the violinist Joseph Joachim, who was the leader of the orchestra at the court of Hannover from 1853 to 1868. The First Prize in Hannover launched international careers for Antje Weithaas and Robert Chen, the 1991 and 1994 competition winners. Cooperating in the competition are the Hannover Academy of Music and Theater Arts, the Lower Saxony Opera House and the North German Broadcasting Corporation.