Getting to Carnegie Competition Returns for its Seventh Year with Four Violin Finalists

For the first time, the 'Getting to Carnegie' competition's final round will take place virtually, streamed on Getting to Carnegie and The Violin Channel's Facebook pages

The innovative Getting to Carnegie competition, sometimes described as "the Hunger Games of classical music," returns for its seventh year on January 12, 2021 at 5pm ET. Rotating annually between violin, cello, and voice, this year's final round will bring together four young violinists from Spain, South Korea, Hong Kong, and the United States: Maria Dueñas (age 18), Sory Park (20), Angela Chan (23), and Sophia Stoyanovich (24). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's competition will take a virtual format for the first time, streaming on Getting to Carnegie and The Violin Channel's Facebook pages for audiences across the globe.

Unlike other classical competitions, in which the audience typically plays a passive role, the audience of Getting to Carnegie is directly involved in choosing the ultimate winner. Fifty percent of the vote will come from the audience watching the live stream and the other fifty percent will come from a jury of professional musicians including the past six winners (Haeji Kim, violin; Chae won Hong, cello; Emily Helenbrook, voice; Nathan Meltzer, violin; Rachel Siu, cello; Brianna Robinson, voice) and violinist Dmitri Berlinsky. The voting will be open for 48 hours and the winner will be announced Jan 14 at 5pm EST on The Violin Channel's Facebook page. You must register to vote

The competition is the brainchild of pianist and composer Julian Gargiulo, commonly referred to as 'Pianist With The Hair', whose mission is to make classical music "relevant and fun" for younger generations. For this year's final round, Gargiulo has written a new violin sonata; each finalist will perform one movement from the sonata with him on piano via split screen, giving its world premiere performance, with commentary and interviews in between.

"Just imagine a cross between SNL and America's Got Talent", said Gargiulo. "The great thing about the competition being 100 percent online is that more people than ever will be Getting to Carnegie this year!"

While the final round usually takes place at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, the circumstances of this year necessitated a pivot to an all-virtual format.

Each finalist receives a cash prize of $1,000 and the overall winner receives an additional $4,000 and will be the featured violinist at Water Island Music Festival, taking place in January 2022 in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, this year's winner will perform Gargiulo's complete violin sonata at Carnegie's Weill Recital Hall in the 2022 edition of Getting to Carnegie.

Tuesday, January 12th, 5pm ET. Getting to Carnegie & The Violin Channel's Facebook pages. Register to vote: The Violin Channel

Winner announced: January 14th at 5pm ET on Getting to Carnegie & The Violin Channel's Facebook pages.

For its outstanding mission to help emerging artists, this year's competition is generously supported by the Alphadyne Foundation.

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