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Shanghai Competition $100,000 First Prize Awarded to Nancy Zhou of the U.S.
Updated with the contestants' scores; please see Editor's note at the bottom of the story.
SHANGHAI -- Nancy Zhou has won first prize in the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition.

Nancy Zhou accepts First Prize in Shanghai. Photo by Violinist.com.
Congratulations to all the laureates! They are:
- First Prize ($100,000 USD): Nancy Zhou, 25, of the United States
- Second Prize ($50,000 USD): Olga Šroubková, 25, of Czechia
- Third Prize ($25,000 USD): Diana Tishchenko, 28, of Ukraine
- Fourth Place ($5,000 USD): Jia Yi Chen, 22, of China
- Fifth Place ($5,000 USD): Chang Yuan Ting, 18, of Canada
- Sixth Place ($5,000 USD): Yun Tang, 26, of China
- Best Performance of Chinese work, Qigang Chen’s "La joie de la souffrance" ($10,000): Olga Šroubková, 25, of Czechia
Click here for a detailed account of the judges scores.
L-R: SISIVC laureates Jia Yi Chen, Chang Yuan Ting, Yun Tang, Diana Tishchenko, Olga Šroubková and Nancy Zhou. Photo by Violinist.com.
Nancy Zhou, a graduate of Harvard University, studied with Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory.
On Tuesday, Iranian kamancheh player and composer Kayhan Kalhor and the Xiaoshuijing Miao Farmers Choir from Yunnan Province were named recipients of the $10,000 Isaac Stern Prize, which was awarded to them on Saturday.
Winners were narrowed down from 174 applicants from 33 countries and regions. The jury for the SISIVC 2018 is co-chaired by conductor David Stern, son of Isaac Stern, and Vera Tsu Weiling, who is a professor of violin at both Shanghai and Beijing Conservatories. Other members of the jury include violinists Maxim Vengerov and Augustin Dumay; violin pedagogues Zakhar Bron, Dora Schwarzberg and Daniel Heifetz; leaders in China's violin scene Lina Yu and Siqing Lu; Shanghai Quartet violinist Weigang Li; Emerson Quartet violinist Philip Setzer; former NY Phil concertmaster Glenn Dicterow; Munich Philharmonic concertmaster Sreten Krstic; artist manager Martin Campbell-White and Philharmonie de Paris programming director Emmanuel Hondré.
UPDATE (9/4): The following are the contestants' Final Round scores, with their average score out of 100 from each juror as well as their cumulative points based on a maximum of 1,300 points, drawn from the jurors scores that were posted by the competition on Monday:
- Nancy Zhou: Average score: 93.54; Cumulative: 1,216 points
- Olga Šroubková: Average score: 93.46; Cumulative: 1,215 points
- Diana Tishchenko: Average score: 90.92; Cumulative: 1,182 points
- Yiayi Chen: Average score: 90; Cumulative 1,170 points
- Chang Yuan Ting: Average score: 88.46; Cumulative 1,150 points
- Yun Tang: Average score: 87.08; Cumulative 1,182 points
You might also like:
- Review: Shanghai Competition Day 3 Finals: Chang Yuan Ting and Olga Šroubková
- Review: Shanghai Competition Day 2 Finals: Diana Tishchenko and Jia Yi Chen
- Review: Shanghai Competition Day 1 Finals: Nancy Zhou and Yun Tang
- Recipients of 2018 Isaac Stern Human Spirit Award Named
- Our Full Coverage of the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition
Replies
Congratulations to all but Olga Sroubkova especially! Why did she seemed disappointed after the performance of the chinese work?! Well done!
She was the only one who memorized it, as well, that was really impressive. Review to come tomorrow...
Congratulations Nancy Zhou for winning, but also to all the other winners and other contestants for trying, you are all winners.
Congrats to all 6 finalists!! Really impressive. Thought Yun Tang should have been ranked higher though
Thanks Laurie, can't wait to read your review. P
Absolutely brilliant, way to go Nancy. Representing San Antonio, TX and the USA! Growing up in the Youth Orchatras of San Antonio together we sat stand partners once, and even as a child she was a beast. One year she won the YOSA Concerto Competition doing the last movement of Saint-Saëns’ 3rd Violin Concerto, Nancy about 10 years old then, and what a powerhouse performance she gave! I’m very proud of her, brava!
Exactly why I do not like competition in music. Really, one point difference in music? Is that really the point? Why not share the prize money. Music is not about competition...or at least in my world.
It is so much pressure and in my opinion a little misguided when the focus is on the money. How about the repertoire played on the cover instead of the money? If someone wants to know that first they would find it out in AP or the ordinary press.
After watching all the videos (thanks for posting), I agree with the jury. Nancy was really one step above the others! Well done!
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September 1, 2018 at 04:17 PM · Congrats! Nancy, from San Antonio, TX, is one of our own!