Johan Dalene Wins 2017 Cooper International Violin Competition
Congratulations to violinist Johan Dalene, 16, of Norrköping, Sweden, who was awarded First Prize in the 2017 Cooper Competition following his performance of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Cleveland Symphony Friday night.
Here is the list of the top winners in the competition, which included a tie for second place:
- First Prize ($20,000): Johan Dalene, 16, of Norrköping, Sweden
- Second Prize ($7,500): Qing Yu Chen, 17, of New York, NY
- Second Prize ($7,500): Christina Jihee Nam, 14, of West Chester, OH
All three Concerto Finalists were also offered full-tuition scholarships to attend the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.
"I saw the best Tchaikovsky Concerto that I’ve ever heard," said jury chair Gregory Fulkerson, after Dalene was named the winner. "I’ve been waiting 60 years to hear someone take the Tchaikovsky Concerto and understand the score so profoundly that he can take it to the world and interpret it in precisely the way the composer intended. It was simply spectacular."
The finalists were narrowed down from a group of 23 violinists from eight countries who came to Oberlin to compete in the competition, which began July 15.. The competition is sponsored by Oberlin Conservatory of Music and The Cleveland Orchestra. Other prize winners were named on Wednesday night.
Jury members include Gregory Fulkerson, Sibbi Bernhardsson, David Bowlin, Chenxing Huang, Haik Kazazyan, Marilyn McDonald, Mark Messenger, Jan Mark Sloman, Naoko Tanaka and Milan Vitek. Prizes to be awarded Friday include a $20,000 first prize; $10,000 second prize and $5,000 third prize.
The Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition, founded in 2010 and held at Oberlin, alternates annually between piano and violin. The competition is for musicians between the ages of 13 and 18.
Johan Dalene performs Friday with The Cleveland Orchestra in the 2017 The Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition Finals. Photo by Roger Mastroianni.
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I agree wholeheartedly. The other contestants exhibited a high degree of technical proficiency, but this young man demonstrated he was an artist. ---Celeste Manway
Gosh, it would be wonderful to be able to hear this young man play that concerto!
I asked the folks at Cooper/Oberlin they had video or audio, but apparently not! :( It seems like if there was a livestream, there were be some kind of archived recording, but so far I have not found it. If anyone finds such a thing, please post!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MapsuvYRsc YouTube has him playing the same piece at another place and time.
I happened to listen to a video on the net from the piano competition at Ingesund in Sweden some o this ago. I really was impressed... I will try to Linköpings this performance or a simmar from your school Nordiska Musikgymnasiet in Stockholm. The way Johan play must be seen it is not only to be listning to. I make a research and will come back here...
Thank you for that link! I'm going to add it to the story above:
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July 22, 2017 at 07:49 AM · It was indeed a magnificent performance. Congratulations, Johan!