Violin 2016: 7 things I learned at the Montreal International Music Competition

The Montreal International Musical Competition is an annual classical music competition dedicated to showcasing young talent from around the world.

• LIVE: Watch the webcast of the finals and Thursday's Gala Concert.

Monday, May 30
7:30 p.m. ET: finals 1/2

Tuesday, May 31
7:30 p.m. ET: finals 2/2

Thursday, June 2
7:30 p.m. ET: gala concert, announcement of winners

Related

Violin 2016: complete coverage of the Montreal International Musical Competition

The MIMC, which began as a voice competition in 2002, rotates between piano and violin in a three-year cycle.

This year, the spotlight is on the violin.

More than 200 young violinists applied via videotape, and 24 were selected for the quarter finals. The quarter-finalists were flown to Montreal to perform in front of an esteemed international jury and an audience of classical music-loving Montrealers – and an online audience, worldwide.

The annual MIMC is a highlight on CBC Music's schedule, and as this year's Gzowski intern here at CBC Montreal, I have been stationed backstage throughout the quarter- and semi-finals.

My job?

To tweet about everything going down, such as violin emergencies, like this one:

I have a classical music background: I played piano for nearly fourteen years and studied opera as a child.

Still, I am not a competitive violinist nor a competitive classical musician – nor even a violinist.

So, it would be accurate to say I have learned a lot, so far — about the violin and violinists, about classical music competitions in general and about the Montreal International Music Competition, in particular.

For those in a similar position and keen on orienting themselves before this week's finals, here are seven things I learned:

1. The Montreal International Musical Competition IS international

Lined up on the back wall of the stage are the flags of the home country of each competitor who made the quarter-finals.

No maple leaf.

The Montreal International Musical Competition is definitively international. In fact, this year, not a single Canadian made it to the quarter-finals.

Competitors hail from Italy, Latvia, France, the U.S., Romania, Finland, Taiwan, Russia, Japan, China and South Korea.

South Korea has proven a powerhouse in recent years – this year being no exception, with five of 12 semi-finalists and two finalists. 

Jurors are similarly international, calling Canada, France, Russia, Armenia, the U.S., Romania and China home.

2. Young adults, only

With a mandate to seek out and support young musicians, the Montreal International Musical Competition is only open to musicians younger than 30.  

The youngest this year is 17: Minami Yoshida of Japan.

In fact, many of this year's competitors study at the same school or with the same teacher.

This year's competition has brought out six Juilliard students and alumni, as well as three competitors who study under Sylvia Rosenberg and three who study under Koichiro Harada.

3. Soloists do not always fly solo

In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, competitors perform both solo and with piano accompaniment.

Those named to the finals perform alongside one of the premier orchestras in Canada, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM).

While competitors come with polished pieces, they only have two hours to rehearse with their collaborative pianist for each of the quarter-final and semi-final rounds.

For the finals, they have 50 minutes to rehearse with the piano and the conductor and then 50 minutes to rehearse with the OSM.

In that limited time, competitors must ensure that their performance comes together seamlessly.

This year's pianists are Louise-Andrée Baril, Philip Chiu, Jean Desmarais, Janelle Fung and Francis Perron.

The pianists themselves take on unwieldy loads, accompanying as many as six competitors during the course of the competition.

They are under incredible pressure, as each competitor's success relies on their delivery of an impeccable performance.

Finalists will perform with the OSM under the direction of guest conductor Giancarlo Guerrero today and tomorrow.

The top three performers additionally perform with the orchestra at the closing Gala concert this Thursday.

4. Home sweet home

Competitors stay with host families while in Montreal. These families become key supports, carting competitors to rehearsals, ensuring all their needs are met and cheering them on during performances.

Host families also double as tour guides. Popular tourist spots include the summit of Mount Royal, for the views, and Crescent Street – for beers on the outdoor patios, or as we call them in Montreal, les terrasses.

For the host family, two weeks with a young guest who is a world-class violinist often means music-filled days, leading many families to open their homes to competitors year after year.

5. Prizes, prizes, prizes

Prize money plays a central role in enticing stellar violinists to participate in the competition.

The Montreal International Musical Competition boasts a $30,000 first place prize, $15,000 second, $10,000 third, as well as $25,000 in other prizes – adding up to a grand total of $80,000.

Success in the competition also yields concert engagements. 

Organizations that partner with the MIMC invite a competitor they were enticed by to perform – most often one of the finalists.

Venues range from the Festival de Musique de Lachine to the Musée du Louvre in France.

Top competitors thus often leave Montreal with cash-lined pockets, as well as an agenda full of international concert engagements for months to come.

6. Jurors speak to no one

Jurors are barred from speaking to each other about contestants.

The non-voting president of the jury, André Bourbeau, who moonlights as the competition's president, is in charge of ensuring that jurors keep their distance from each other.

Decisions are made using a silent marking system.

For the quarter-finals and semifinals, jurors are asked to rate how deserving each competitor is of moving to the next round: 1-3 for no, 4-6 for maybe and 7-9 for yes.

For the finals, jurors rank the finalists in order from first to sixth place.

Jurors must also abstain from voting if the competitor is a student of theirs, which happened in a couple of cases during this competition.

And that's it! No words exchanged between jurors regarding competitors until competitors are eliminated or the competition is over.

7. Competitive violinists: an interesting breed

Right before heading on-stage in the quarter-final round, French competitor Anna Göckel cut a lemon in half and bit into it.

"For energy," she explained to the confused onlookers backstage.

Ji Won Song of South Korea takes a nap before performing: She'll do her make-up and hair, then curl up with a blanket for an hour or two, wake up, touch up, warm up – and then walk out on stage.

This ritual keeps Song's mind alert.  It shows: She's made the final round of the competition.

Other competitors' rituals include bananas, which are said to have soothing powers. Over the course of the quarter-final round, I saw nearly half the competitors consume a banana before performing.

Seeing these bizarre rituals completed so devoutly, I expected competitors to be merciless, hard-as-nails violinists who would not so much as look each other in the eye.

Okay, maybe I did not anticipate quite that, but I was not prepared for the camaraderie exhibited throughout the competition.

In the quarterfinals, Daniel Cho's shoulder-rest cracked mid-performance. He rushed downstairs and without skipping a beat, Bomsori Kim handed him hers.

While the jury tabulated results in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, competitors waited arm-in-arm backstage.

Finals take place on Monday, May 30 and Tuesday, May 31 at 7:30 p.m., at the Maison symphonique de Montréal (1600 St-Urbain Street). The Gala concert is on Thursday, June 2 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at placedesarts.com and by phone at 514-842-2112.

Watch live on CBC MUSIC, Monday, May 30, Tuesday, May 31 and Thursday, June 2 from 6:30 p.m. ET:

• LIVE: Watch the webcast of the finals and Thursday's Gala Concert

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