The semi-finalists have been chosen: the twelve young virtuosos who stood out in a field of 39 competitors were announced this evening by Richard Jakoby, Chairman of the Jury of the Hannover International Violin Competition. Seven young women and five young men make up the semi-final field. The youngest of them is 16 years old. She is a pupil of Robert Chen's, the First Prize-Winner of the 1994 competition. The semi-finalists are:
- Felicitas Hofmeister (*1972 in Kaiserslautern, lives in Bergheim-Fliesteden, Germany)
- Sergei Levitin (*1972 in St. Petersburg, lives in Vienna)
- Bin Huang (*1971 in Hunan, lives in Baltimore, USA)
- Reiko Otani (*1972 in Osaka, lives in Brussels)
- Thomas Timm (*1973 in Leinefelde, lives in Leipzig)
- Shirabe Aoki (*1973 in Nagoya, lives in Tokyo)
- Mariusz Patyra (*1977 in Orzysz, lives in Warsaw and Hannover)
- Francesco Manara (*1969 in Turin, lives in Milan)
- Felicia Terpitz (*1971 in Bonn, lives in Germany)
- Saeka Matsuyama (*1980 in Nishinomiya, lives in New York)
- Anton Sorokow (*1978 in Moscow, lives in Vienna)
- Michiko Kamiya (*1973 in Nagoya, lives in London and Nagoya)
The jurors' decision brings to a close the preliminary rounds, during which the competitors performed pieces for solo violin and with piano accompaniment. These included the Romance op. 2, No. 1 by Joseph Joachim, to whom the Hannover competition is dedicated.
The repertory of the semi-finals, which take place from 12 to 14 October in the Hannover Academy of Music and Theater Arts, is largely up to the twelve competitors themselves. This new aspect of the program places more emphasis on the artistic personality of the performer. The only piece which all twelve will play is Henryk Mikolai Górecki's »Little Fantasy« for violin and piano, which was commissioned especially for the competition.
In the evening sessions, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's violin concertos will fill the program. The violinists will be accompanied by the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Agnieszka Duczmal. The orchestra delighted performers and audiences in Hannover during the 1994 competition.
When the three-day semi-finals are completed, the 11-member jury will cast their ballots once again, determining the six musicians who will go on to the final round in the North German Broadcasting Corporation's Hannover concert hall on October 16th and 17th.
On October 15th, 16th and 17th, the Foundation of Lower Saxony has planned a series of lectures and symposiums. On October 15th, a panel of experts from New York, Paris, Warsaw, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Hannover will be discussing the music critic's role in music competitions. The panel convenes at 11 a.m. in the Academy. At 4 p.m. the same day, the music publicist and Joseph Joachim specialist Beatrix Borchard (Berlin) will deliver an illustrated talk on »Joseph Joachim: Hannover and Life's Big Decisions« at the Hannover Convention Center. This event is being presented in cooperation with the European Center for Jewish Music (Hannover).
The Foundation of Lower Saxony presents the Hannover International Violin Competition every three years. This year's edition is the third.
Tickets for the semi-finals can be purchased at the Academy. Tickets for the finals are available at Laporte (tel. +49 (5 11) 32 92 22) in Hannover.