Nathan Meltzer wins Windsor Festival International String Competition in U.K.

March 19, 2017, 8:25 PM · Congratulations to the winners of the Windsor Festival International String Competition!

They are:

First Place and Audience Prize: Nathan Meltzer, 16, of the U.S.
Second Place: Jonian Ilias Kadesha, 24, of Greece
Third Place: Luke Hsu, 26, of the U.S.

The competition, which started in 2008 in honor of Sir Yehudi Menuhin, took place last week at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. The winners were chosen from eight semifinalists, who were chosen from 170 applicants from 44 countries.

First place winnner Nathan Meltzer is center, with Jonian Ilias Kadesha, left, and Luke Hsu, right.

"Everything about it was inspirational," Meltzer said of the competition, in an e-mail to Violinist.com. "The semi-finals were held in a Christopher Wren building in a room full of ancient paintings of kings and queens; the finals were in Windsor Castle itself."

Windsor Castle "While the jury was making its decision, waiters served wine and the Earl of Wessex shook all of our hands," Meltzer said. "It was awesome to think the buildings were centuries older than the music -- and maybe someone had had a head cut off in the next room! I don't think that happened, but a lot of royals were buried in the chapel next door. When you're playing amidst seven centuries of history, it feels less certain the world will end if you miss a note. I loved Windsor."

Jury members were Pierre Amoyal, Edward Vanderspar and Raphael Walfisch.

Meltzer studies with Itzhak Perlman and Li Lin at Juilliard Pre-College, where he is a Starling scholar. He began his music education in a second-grade orchestra class in Vienna, joined the "Violin Virtuosi" at Indiana University in 2011, and entered the Perlman Music Program in 2013. Nathan will receive £5,000, performance opportunities in the UK, a bow from Bishop Instruments and Bows and a solo recording opportunity.

Upcoming performances for Nathan include a June 11 performance with the Adelphi Orchestra in New York, at which he will play Waxman's Carmen Fantasy and Chausson's "Poeme" in a benefit for Adelphi Orchestra’s Young Artist Program.

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BELOW: Nathan Meltzer plays the Sibelius Violin Concerto with the Adelphi Orchestra in October 2016.