media releases - International jury to judge string competition

Nine highly-respected and experienced doyens of string music from across the globe will adjudicate the Vodacom-sponsored 5^th Unisa International String Competition, which begins on Saturday 23 January 2010.

The jury members who will gather in Pretoria later this month emanate from all parts of the world. They include two from South Africa. Their distinguished music careers and vast knowledge will eminently qualify them to make the demanding decision about which of the twenty-seven young violinists and cellists deserve to win the prizes.

Bob Collymore, Chief Officer: Corporate Affairs of the Vodacom Group says: “We welcome this distinguished panel of jury members to South Africa, and are confident they have the experience to make the difficult choices of who will take top honours in this prestigious competition.”

For the winners of the violin and the cello categories there will be first prizes of R200 000 each. Overall second prize is R170 000, while third prize is R140 000. Fourth and fifth prizes are R100 000 and R80 000 respectively. Various special prizes will also be awarded.

The jury will take into account skill and musicianship, musical expression, interpretative ability and the understanding of the stylistic periods and cultural background of the music when evaluating the musical performances.

The competitors will be accompanied by pianists during the first, second and third rounds, while on the final evenings they will perform with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by South African-born Conrad Elmar van Alphen.

The jury members are:

• Jitka Vlašánková, who has played the cello since the age of seven, is a well renowned music doyen in the Czech Republic. She is currently a member of the Martinu Quartet formed in 1986 while studying under Viktor Moucka. Her music career has included performing in many European countries and teaching at the Music Gymnasium in Prague.

• Lina Yu is a violinist from China who won instant acclaim when she premiered in the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto at the age of eighteen. Since then she has recorded this concerto many times with orchestras such as the BBC Orchestra, the Russian Philharmonic and the Shanghai Symphony. Yu appears frequently in recitals and as soloist with orchestras around the world. She is also currently the professor of violin and Chairwoman of the Violin and Viola Department at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

• Bulgarian born Vanya Milanova became a major prize-winner of the Tshaikovsky, Queen Elizabeth and Paganini Competitions by the time she was twenty. She began a career that involved over one hundred concertos and recital performances per year throughout Europe, Scandinavia, South America, South Africa, Israel and the Far East. Living in London, Milanova plays with the major British Orchestra and broadcasts for BBC. Each year she returns to Bulgaria to play at the major Festivals of the country and to give master classes.

• Susan Mouton from Durban, South Africa, began cello lessons at the age of ten. In 1983 she joined the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) and was appointed principal cellist in 1987. Since 2000 she has been the principal cellist of the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa.

• Zela Terry, from the United States of America, has become a world-renowned cellist who has travelled the world extensively during her career. At the age of nineteen she joined the Pittsburgh Symphony and at the same time assisted as principal cellist for the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the White Plains Symphony, the Heritage Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Chautauqua and Colorado Music Festivals. Terry is currently the violincelle supersoloist with the Nice Philharmonique and Opera Orchestra in France’s Cote d’Azure. She also travels to Germany frequently to teach master classes at the Hochschule.

• Danish cellist, Morten Zeuthen, has performed as soloist with all the Danish orchestras and often appears solo. He has recorded many CDs of which his recording of Bach’s solo suites received a Danish Grammy for Classical Recording in 1994. Zeuthen was a member of the Kontra String Quartet from 1976 to 2000, which toured Europe, Japan and the USA. He is a professor of cello at the Royal Danish Conservatoire of Music.

• Michael Fischenschlager began his career as a violin soloist and chamber musician playing concertos in Europe, Asia and North America. The Austrian musician was a professor at the Hochschule fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna from 1992 until 1996 and is at the moment the President of the Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition of Vienna.

• Distinguished Jamaican violinist Steven Woodham has performed in the Caribbean, Europe, Canada and the USA and has appeared as soloist in many university orchestras and touring chamber orchestras. He dedicates much of his time and energy to music education as a private tutor and as artist-in-residence and conductor of the Immaculate Conception High School Symphony Orchestra in Kingston, Jamaica.

• John Roos, the artistic director of the Unisa National and International Music Competitions, has perfected the art of arranging concerts, national and international music competitions as well as coordinating community music projects. In 2008 the prestigious Chancellor’s medal of his Alma Mater, the University of Pretoria, was awarded to him for his contribution to international classical music competitions in South Africa.

The 5th Unisa International String Competition, sponsored by Vodacom, begins with the first round of judging on Saturday 23 January 2010. The two evenings held for the final round will be held on Saturday 4 February and Sunday 5 February 2010. All rounds will be held at the ZK Matthews Great Hall, Unisa Main Campus in Tshwane.

More information is available from the Unisa Music Foundation at 012-429-3344/3336. Tickets for the first three rounds are available at the doors, while season ticket holders can secure their seats in the final rounds through Computicket.

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Issued by: Ruth Coggin

Quo Vadis Communications

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