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24 Competitors Announced in 2024 Primrose International Viola Competition

April 19, 2024, 1:23 PM · The Colburn School and the American Viola Society today announced the 24 violists who will compete in the 2024 Primrose International Viola Competition, which will take place June 17-22 at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. (Click here for the schedule and livestream link.)

The 24 violists were chosen from 156 applications received during a pre-screening round that closed in January. They include musicians representing 12 countries, with participants ranging in age from 16 to 30, with an average age of 24.

They include:

• Leslie Ashworth, 27, of Canada (The Juilliard School)
• Keoni Bolding, 26, of United States (Curtis Institute of Music)
• Hsiang-Hsin Ching, 23, Taiwan (Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University)
• Toby Cook, 26, of United Kingdom (Zurich University of the Arts)
• Riko Eto, 23, of Japan (Tokyo University of the Art)
• Andjela Josifoski, 17, of Serbia (International Menuhin Music Academy)
• Yong Ha Jung, 24, of South Korea (The Juilliard School)
• Yunji Jang, 22, of South Korea (Seoul National University)
• Annariina Jokela, 30, of Finland (Haute Ecole de Musique)
• Mao Konishi, 28, of Japan (University of the Arts Berlin)
• Katie Liu, 25, of United States (Yale School of Music)
• Laura Liu, 23, of United States (The Juilliard School)
• Wilhelm Magner, 24, of Canada (Yale School of Music)
• David Montreuil, 28, of Canada (McGill University)
• Andy Park, 22, of United States (Yale University)
• Haneul Park, 23, of South Korea (Curtis Institute of Music)
• Karolina Errera Pavon, 30, of Russia (Kronberg Academy)
• JungAhn Shin, 24, of South Korea (Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin)
• Otoha Tabata, 24, of Japan (The Royal College of Music)
• Guohan Tang, 23, of China (Universität der Künste Berlin)
• Duleen Van Gunsteren, 28, of Netherlands (Conservatory of Amsterdam)
• Kinga Wojdalska, 25, of Poland (Zurcher Hochschule der Kunste)
• Xunyu Zhou, 16, of China (Shanghai Conservatory of Music Affiliated Middle School)
• Emad Zolfaghari, 19, of Canada (Curtis Institute of Music)

Each of the 24 violists will compete in the Quarter-Final Round June 17-18. Eight will advance to the Semi-Final Round, in which competitors will perform any two contrasting movements of a solo work by Johann Sebastian Bach, a complete major work for viola and piano, and a commissioned work for viola and piano by Nokuthula Ngwenyama written in memory of Dr. David Dalton.

During the first of two Final Rounds, the final three competitors will perform Claude Debussy’s Trio for Flute, Viola and Pedal Harp (1915) on June 21. The following day, June 22, the competitors will perform either Bela Bartók’s Viola Concerto (ed. Serly) or William Walton’s Viola Concerto with orchestra led by Elias Peter Brown, a Salonen Fellow in the Negaunee Conducting Program at the Colburn Conservatory. Winners will be announced June 22.

Prizes include a $15,000 first prize; $10,000 second prize; $5,000 third prize. There is also a $1,000 Transcriptions Prize and a $1,000 Illumination Prize, for best performance of a work by an underrepresented composer demographic. The first-prize winner will perform at the 2026 American Viola Society Festival and receive an invitation to the semi-finals of the Concert Artists Guild Competition.

The jury for the 2024 competition will include Tim Frederiksen (Jury Chairman), Atar Arad, Cathy Basrak, Ensik Choi, Steven Dann, Ayane Kozasa, and Geraldine Walther.

The 2024 competition is dedicated to the memory of Dr. David Dalton, a former student and friend of William Primrose. Dalton was professor emeritus of viola at Brigham Young University, and earned his B.M. and M.M. degrees in violin at the Eastman School of Music.
He earned his doctorate in viola performance at Indiana University. Dalton collaborated with Primrose in writing his memoir, "Walk on the North Side and Playing the Viola: Conversations with William Primrose" and produced two documentaries, "A Violist’s Legacy," and
William Primrose, Violist."

In conjunction with the Primrose International Viola Competition, the American Viola Society will host its 2024 Festival taking place at the Colburn School on June 19-22. Recital performances, lectures, presentations, masterclasses, youth competitions, and exhibits will be scheduled around the competition Semi-Final and Final rounds. Click here for more information.

You might also like:

• Interview with Violist Natalie Loughran, Winner of the 2021 Primrose Competition
• Remembering Violist Dr. David Dalton (1934-2022)
• Hae-Sue Lee Wins First Prize in the 2018 Primrose International Viola Competition

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