Great IndyHub Event!

Wednesday night was an incredibly exciting evening for the IVCI as we teamed up with IndyHub (Indianapolis's fantastic young professionals networking organization headed by the terrific Molly Chavers) to host an event generously sponsored by Barnes and Thornburg, LLP.  It was a great evening of wine, hors d'oeuvres, conversation, and music!  Our 2006 Laureate Bella Hristova was in town and brilliantly performed selections by Bach and Ysaye.  We hope to engage even more young Hoosiers in this year's Competition!

Check out out our website, Facebook page, or twitter feed to learn more and connect! 

Gearing up to the Competition!

Things have shifted into high gear here at the IVCI office!  We are less than a month away from the arrival of 40 of the world's most talented young musicians as well as our distinguished jury and guests!  You can feel the energy in the office...all very exciting!

This year we have so many different ways to connect in ways to connect into the Competition.  You can download our free iPhone app, follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, or check this Blog regularly!  We are also going to be streaming the finals at a very high-bandwidth to several universities around the United States.  It will be the closest thing one can get to actually being in a seat at Hilbert Circle Theatre.  We will be releasing the list of Universities shortly!  Be sure to check back here and our website www.violin.org for all the latest.  

Joan Tower

For each Competition, IVCI commissions a new work to be premiered in the Semi-Final round .  The commissioned work tests the interpretive skills of the young artists in a piece with no performance history. It is also our hope that the piece will be performed beyond the Competition and become a valued addition to the contemporary violin repertoire.  For the 2010 Competition, we are thrilled to have commissioned the eminent American composer Joan Tower to compose the new work  Her piece, entitled String Force, is for solo violin and will be premiered and performed by each Semi-Finalist September 17-20.  We are also thrilled that she will be able to join us in Indianapolis for a few days during the Competition! Check out this interview with Joan Tower as she discusses the importance of new music:

Strings Magazine

An exciting preview of the 2010 IVCI appeared in the most recent issue of Strings Magazine!  Find a section of the article below and follow the link at the bottom of the post to read the entire article! 

In mid-May, violinist Augustin Hadelich prepared to embark on a whirlwind tour of Europe, flying from New York to Germany to perform the Brahms Violin Concerto with the Würzburger Philharmoniker before heading to Newcastle and then on to Helsinki, for a performance of Mozart’s Concerto No. 5 with renowned conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya. The already exhausting junket was complicated further by the fact that Hadelich was slated to fly Icelandair with a layover in Reykjavik, where travel remained at a standstill because of the lingering volcanic ash cloud. Having played on several continents in the past four years, 26-year-old Hadelich has become a well-seasoned traveler. So, unfazed, he re-routed his trip via London and arrived in Germany, jetlagged, but ready to play.

Hadelich’s dizzying performance schedule is a testament to his talent. The New York Times raved: “[Hadelich] plays with dazzling technique, a gorgeous tone, and penetrating, spontaneous musicality.” And Hadelich’s rise to fame has been buoyed by his 2006 victory at the prestigious International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

“It really got things going for me,” Hadelich says. “Suddenly with this competition people heard my name for the first time.”

In September, the music community will be hearing the name of another young gifted violinist when the IVCI, often referred to as the “Olympics of the violin world” because it is held every four years and boasts considerable prestige, crowns another laureate. For 17 days, violinists aged 16 to 29 will compete over four intensive rounds. The program is “designed to test the breadth of their musicianship,” IVCI executive director Glen Kwok says. 

To read the rest of the article, please click here.

Happy Birthday to our Executive Director, Mr. Glen Kwok!

Exciting Giveaways!

In our effort to make this year's Competition as accessible to everyone around the world, we are encouraging fans to join us on Facebook, Twitter, and through our iPhone app!  In the coming weeks, we will be having some fun giveaways for our Facebook and Twitter fans--look for opportunities to win CD's, DVD's, and tickets to the Competition coming this September!

Augustin Hadelich video!

Our 2006 Gold Medalist, Augustin Hadelich is creating a lot of buzz around the classical music world having recently made his debut with the New York Philharmonic and conductor Alan Gilbert!  Congrats Augustin!

Check out this awesome music video of Augustin performing Sarasate's Zapateado!
Augustin performs Zapateado!

Welcome!

Welcome to the official 2010 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (IVCI) blog!  My name is Isaac Thompson and I will your "blogging" guide throughout the Eighth Quadrennial Violin Competition of Indianapolis!

I'm looking forward to sharing all the exciting  happenings of the upcoming Competition (Sept. 10-26)!  Check back here often for updated news, interesting information on the participants, and thoughts as we approach the exciting (and for us, exhausting) month of September.  Prepare yourself for the "Olympics of the Violin"!

IJT