Third Edition Of Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition Completed Online

After being postponed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition (SISIVC) announced the decision to change its competition system on June 30. The six candidates that have reached the final round will not be competing for rankings. Instead, they will jointly present a concert entitled "In Tribute to Isaac Stern's Centennial SISIVC Winners' Concert" from August 26-28, available to watch on SISIVC's official social media channels.

The third SISIVC applications were sent out in August 2019. According to the original plan, the preliminary round was to be completed online at the beginning of 2020, and the quarter-final, semi-final and final rounds were to take place in Shanghai from August 4 to 25. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the schedules of many international events worldwide, and the 2020 SISIVC made the decision to postpone the competition.

In August 2021, six candidates - Rino Yoshimoto (Japan), Thomas Lefort (France), Ruifeng Lin (China), Felicitas Schiffner (Germany), Angela Sin Ying Chan (Hong Kong, China), and Shannon Lee (United States) - entered the final round after eight days of intense competition online.

"This is a complex decision from the Organisation Committee, which won the unanimous understanding and support from the jury and candidates," according to the spokesperson for the SISIVC Organisation Committee. "What we can confirm is that the high standard of the competition and our support for the candidates will not be compromised because of the present health crisis."

The Organisation Committee reached the final decision after receiving unanimous approval from the jury committee. On June 20, the Organisation Committee and the chairpersons of the jury committee - Mr. David Stern and Ms. Vera Tsu Weiling - hosted an online conference with the six candidates, when the resolution was officially announced.

In the new plan, 2020 SISIVC will not decide the rankings of the six candidates in the final round of the competition. Instead, the candidates will need to perform the repertoire of the final round including two concerto performances: a concerto of their choice plus 'Night Tour' by Zhou Tian, a piece commissioned by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO). Zhou Tian is the first Chinese musician to be nominated for a Grammy Award for the Best Contemporary Classical Composition. These videos will be released online from August 26-28, in a final competitors' concert. Each of the six candidates will be awarded a certificate for entering the final round of the 2020 SISIVC, as well as a scholarship of $20,000 USD for their future education and career development. In preparation for their videos, each candidate will receive support from the SISIVC to pay for their expenses incurred in order to guarantee a professional quality recording experience.

Long Yu - President of the Organisation Committee and Music Director of Shanghai Symphony Orchestra - comments, "Performing artists, especially musicians, are and will always be able to achieve the biggest impact by playing in front of a live audience. Competing online would help us decide the ranking of each candidate, but the ultimate goal of the competition is not ranking. This is just a means to discover and support musicians. Under the current circumstances, it is more important to effectively send these six candidates on track to the next chapter of their music journey. That's why we have decided to provide them with scholarships and continued support measures, in order to help them head into the future with an easier and more determined path. The jury members were touched by this plan too. They saw in it the organizers' respect for music and young musicians."

The jury committee will not give scores for each performance, but they will provide detailed reactions of each candidate's performance, acting as mentors rather than competition jury members.

Mr. David Stern said "I am very proud of the imaginative solution that the SISIVC has put in place in order to bring the 2020 competition to a just conclusion. The continuing difficulties connected to the pandemic have obligated us to invent an entirely new outcome. The six talented candidates who managed to make it to the finals already deserve credit for persevering during these difficult times. Offering these young people an equal amount of money as a scholarship and planning future concert appearances with China's premier orchestras shows that the SISIVC is committed to supporting young talent beyond the expected competition structure. These six musicians represent the future, and our job is to be part of a worldwide network that is committed to supporting them."

For more information about SISIVC, please visit sisivc.shsymphony.com.

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