Chinese musicians come to New York to compete in competition
NEW YORK—Three full days of rigorous violin competition and extraordinary musicianship came to a successful conclusion as female contestant Tong Yan was crowned the winner of NTDTV’s first Chinese International Violin Competition at the famed Town Hall theater in New York City on Sunday, July 27th.
With an artistically challenging repertoire of violin classics from Mozart, Bach, Beethoven and Paganini, the competition’s goal was to discover unknown talents while promoting classical music and traditional culture to an international audience.
The competition was the first in a series of nine events hosted by NTDTV, a global non-profit Chinese broadcaster based in New York. The full competition series aims to celebrate and discover the finest talents for the piano, traditional Han couture, oil painting, cooking, photography, martial arts, dance, and singing.
Zhong Lee, president of NTDTV, called the fist competition “definitely a success. I was surprised by the skill level the musicians showed.” Happy with the impact of the first event in the nine competition series, he added: “We wanted to promote culture, authentic and traditional culture.” With the competitions as a bridge between West and East, NTDTV wants to make sure “that the best of the world in terms of art comes out.”
When asked how the musicians’ personalities come through the music, competition judge and conductor of the Divine Performing Arts Orchestra Mr. Chen Rutang said “If he’s playing Mozart, the personal image and feelings still come through the music. Therefore, in this competition we emphasize a good moral foundation, character and righteousness—that way, we believe, the music and message coming from the violin will be something positive.
Originally from Shanghai, the winning contestant Tong Yan had recently finished her studies at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio. In an interview before the competition, she described her understanding of music as a language. “I agree it’s a language, but it’s something with more depth. It’s not like the spoken word. Music can express something like inner strength—something spiritual… Here in our world we have war. If music were a world, I don’t think there’d be any war or fighting.”
Tong Yan won the $10,000 Gold award, Jean Hee Lee from Canada won the $3,000 Silver award and the Bronze award of $1,000 went to Kia-Hui Tan from Singapore. Of the impact the award will have on her career, Tong said, “I'll keep practicing and working hard on my technique and studies.”
An exquisite handcrafted violin by the master-builder Su Ding Hsuan found a delighted new owner in Won-Hee Lee who was recognized with the “Rising Star” award. Lee is sister to Silver award winner Jean Hee Lee.
Lee said of her little sister, “She coached my Wieniaswski Polonaise last night. We really enjoy supporting each other.”
In addition to the judges and the contestants, the audience was equally impressed with the outcome of the competitions. “I found it so amazing how they were playing“ said Jeff Fernandez, GM of Costco Wholesale retailer in New Jersey. “You could see that they not only posses the talent to play such difficult things but are also able to play with so much feeling and emotion.”
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