July 2011

The truth behind Mozart International String Competition In Thailand

July 15, 2011 11:48

Hello everybody! I am sort of new here, even though I visit the website often. I would like to share with you my experiences of the Thailand's International 1st Mozart String Competition. My husband who is also a violin/viola teacher had 2 students participating. Needless to say, they were well prepared, even though the required program was changed by the competition's committee 3 times, from the impossible to barely playable (by some). But this is Thailand and we are somewhat used to that. It was also announced that the competition will be sponsored by the Austrian Embassy but to this day I have not seen any Austrian representatives of this event. The international jury was supposed to include some star teachers including Roman Nodel but the same story happened here: just one German cellist from New Zealand (there was 1(!) cello player in the whole competition), 3 no-names Vietnamese guys from Hanoi and an old Thai violist (which is funny by itself, those species don't exist), Chuchart Pitaksakorn. Mr.Mongkol Chayasirisobhon, seemingly the organizer of the event performed the role of jack-of-all-trades. You will see later. The semi-final and final took place at the Yamaha instruments' showroom in a large shopping mall. No stage, no warm-up rooms (my husband's students did it in bathroom), the jury sat in such a way that one had to chose a playing position between the jury and the audience. It was quite ridiculous considering the level of playing. Among the clearly handicapped players the violin student of my husband gave such a strong performance that it seemed clear, he would go through to the final. Imagine the surprise when it did not happen. After much grilling of the German jury member she confessed that they had point system (which is common and normal), no discussion was allowed and there was only one person who did the count - the organizer himself. We could believe our own ears. Some Vietnamese teachers who were in the audience were so shocked they promised to cut the air for their wishy-washy colleagues from the jury once they get back home. One of those teachers who is an excellent player who finished grad school of the Moscow Conservatory, studied with Zakhar Bronn etc. was outraged so much he forbade his student who took 2nd prize in younger group (even though she was clearly the best) to perform at the Award ceremony. He said it would be demeaning for her to perform for them. He has his dignity. Speaking of 2nd prizes, our Thai girl from the older group won it, too. She was happy but our hearts were heavy with the feeling of deceit. The saddest part was that because she (unjustly) shared the prize with a Vietnamese girl, there was only one plastic thing which had to be given to the guest. At the Award ceremony she just stood there with nothing but some flowers in her hands... And to make the story even more shocking, we the teachers were asked by some high society lady to contribute some money "to help with the hall rental". I suggested to her asking Mr. Mongkol for contributions of that kind and then expressed my doubts since he clearly could not even afford a plastic prize (I think it should cost less than a bowl of noodle soup here in Thailand). Here is my bitter-sweet inside story about the International Mozart Competition in Thailand. I really wanted to let somebody know of what really happens here in the Land of Smiles. I will gladly elaborate and answer questions once I recover, so feel free to ask anything. Keep the music alive, Mariam

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July 2011

The truth behind Mozart International String Competition In Thailand

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