15 young violinists to vie for Stradivarius title

With one international competition barely finished in Salt Lake City, another is about to begin.

The second Stradivarius International Violin Competition begins July 5 and runs through July 10. Sponsored by Charles W. Liu Fine Violins, the competition this year focuses on junior violinists aged 10-18.

"We have 15 competitors from five countries," Liu told the Deseret News. Eight of the participants are from the United States.

The young violinists go through a screening process to be selected for the competition. "We had close to 50 kids apply," Liu said. "All of them had to submit a CD and a DVD of their playing."

A selection committee made up of violinist and University of Utah faculty member Hasse Borup; Utah Symphony first violinist Judd Sheranian; and director of violin at Southern Utah University Xun Sun listened to the CDs anonymously and rated the performances. "We want to make it as fair as possible for everyone," Liu said. "That's why we made it anonymous. After narrowing the field down, the selection committee watched the DVDs to make their final cut. "The ones with the most 'yes' votes were chosen."

Liu also listened to and watched the recorded performances, and he was impressed with what he heard. "They are phenomenal. These kids are high quality players." And they have to show their mettle with works that are, in fact, on the same level as those required for a senior international competition, Liu said. "The repertoire is really tough."

Each competitor has to play two solo pieces by J.S. Bach, a showpiece and a concerto. "I was nervous about choosing this kind of repertoire for them, but we've had a very good response."

The Stradivarius is the only competition in the United States for this age group at this level, Liu said. "There are junior competitions in Pennsylvania, California and Indianapolis, but none of them feature this high caliber of performance."

The violinists will play a dress rehearsal round, which is closed to the public, and two semifinal rounds, which are open and free of charge. The final round, which is also free and open to the public, takes place July 10, after which the prize winners will be announced.

Competitors will be accompanied by Larry Gee, Heather Conner or Vedrana Subotic, or they can provide their own accompanist.