The Michael Hill International Violin Competition is a

biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...

music competition for

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ists aged between 18 and 28. It was founded by Michael Hill in 2001 as the Michael Hill World Violin Competition. Hill remains a major sponsor, claiming that "It is my dream that New Zealand will one day become a much more balanced society with not just wonderful sport – but also wonderful classical music." In 2004, the event became a member of the

World Federation of International Music Competitions The World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) is an organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that maintains a network of the internationally recognized organisations that aim to discover the most promising young talents in classi ...

. The event is held in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, with the first two semi-final rounds of competition conducted in Queenstown and the third and final rounds held in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. There is a total prize pool of

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zea ...

100,000, with the winner receiving $40,000. In 2009, the events gained about $500,000 worth of sponsorship. Special guests at the competition have included

Prime Minister of New Zealand The prime minister of New Zealand ( mi, Te pirimia o Aotearoa) is the head of government of New Zealand. The prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, took office on 26 October 2017. The prime minister (inform ...

Helen Clark Helen Elizabeth Clark (born 26 February 1950) is a New Zealand politician who served as the 37th prime minister of New Zealand from 1999 to 2008, and was the administrator of the United Nations Development Programme from 2009 to 2017. She was ...

, and

Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage The Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage is a minister in the government of New Zealand with responsibility for arts, culture, heritage, and broadcasting, and is in charge of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. The position was establish ...

Christopher Finlayson Christopher Francis Finlayson (born 1956) is a New Zealand lawyer and former Member of Parliament, representing the National Party. He was elected to Parliament in 2005. In the Fifth National Government, from 2008 to 2017, he was Attorney-Ge ...

Laureates

{, class="wikitable" , - ! Year !! First prize !! Second prize !! Third prize !! Fourth prize !! Fifth prize !! Sixth prize , - , 2001 , , Joseph Lin, Taiwan/USA , , Tatiana Samouil, Russia , , Alexandra Osborne, Australia , , , , , , , - , 2003 , , Natalia Lomeiko, Russia , , Kristian Winther, Australia , , Korbinian Altenberger, Germany , , , , , , , - , 2005 , ,

Feng Ning Feng may refer to: *Feng (surname), one of several Chinese surnames in Mandarin: **Féng (surname) ( wikt:冯 féng 2nd tone "gallop"), very common Chinese surname **Fèng (surname) ( wikt:鳳 fèng 4th tone "phoenix"), relatively common Chinese fa ...

, China , , Yvonne Lam, USA , , Bartosz Woroch, Poland , , , , , , , - , 2007 , ,

Bella Hristova Bella Hristova (born 28 December 1985) is a Bulgarian-American violinist. Early life Hristova was born in Pleven, Bulgaria to Russian and Bulgarian parents. She began her studies on the violin at the age of six. By the age of twelve, she enrolle ...

, Bulgaria , , Yuuki Wong, Dominica , , Stefan Hempel, Germany , , , , , , , - , 2009 , ,

Josef Špaček Josef Špaček (7 August 1927 – 11 July 2004) was a Czechoslovak communist politician who was an important member of the government during the 1968 reformist period known as the Prague Spring. He was appointed to the Central Committee of t ...

, Czech Republic , , Yoo Jin Jang, South Korea , , Danbi Um, South Korea , ,

Tessa Lark Tessa Lark is an American concert violinist from Kentucky. Early life Lark was born and raised in Richmond, Kentucky. She started violin training at age six through the Suzuki method. Her musical career began performing and recording with her ...

, USA , , David McCarroll, USA , , Dami Kim, South Korea , - , 2011 , , Sergey Malov, Russia , , Richard Lin, Taiwan , , Xiang Yu, China , ,

Nadir Khashimov Nadir Khashimov (born 16 August 1990) is a classical violinist who began his studies at the age of 7. He is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with violinists Pamela Frank and Shmuel Ashkenasi. Previous teachers include V ...

, Uzbekistan , , Eric Silberger, USA , , Stefani Collins, USA , - , 2013 , ,

Nikki Chooi Nikki Chooi (born January 31, 1989) is an American-Canadian classical violinist. He is a prize winner of the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition and Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition and 1st prize winner of the 2013 Michael Hill Intern ...

, Canada , , Sarah Christian, Germany , , Boson Mo, Canada , , Wonyoung Jung, South Korea , , Ioana Cristina Goicea, Romania , , Natalie Lin, New Zealand , - , 2015 , , Suyeon Kang, Australia , , Eunae Koh, South Korea , ,

Timothy Chooi Timothy Chooi is a Canadian–American violinist and University of Ottawa professor of Chinese-Indonesian ethnic background. He won the First Prize at the 2018 International Joseph Joachim Violin Competition and Second Prize at the 2019 Queen ...

, Canada , , Natsumi Tsuboi, Japan/USA , , Elly Suh, USA / South Korea , , Marie-Christine Klettner, Austria , - , 2017 , , Ioana Cristina Goicea, Romania , , Luke Hsu, USA , , Benjamin Baker, New Zealand , , Olga Šroubková, Czech Republic , , Sumina Studer, Switzerland , , Kunwha Lee, South Korea , - , 2019 , , Anna Do Gyung Im, South Korea{{cite news , title=Anna Im wins Michael Hill International Violin Competition , url=https://www.thestrad.com/news/anna-im-wins-michael-hill-international-violin-competition/9079.article , accessdate=3 July 2019 , work=the Strad , agency=Gannett , publisher=Newsquest Specialist Media Limited , date=10 June 2019 , , Eric Tsai, USA , , Jevgēnijs Čepoveckis, Latvia , , Angela Sin Ying Chan, Hong Kong , , Hannah Cho, USA , , Victoria Wong, Australia

References

External links

Michael Hill International Violin Competition
Music competitions in New Zealand 2001 establishments in New Zealand