Sirena Huang First Prize Winner of Inaugural Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition

Sirena Huang (age 22 from the United States) has been named the First Prize Winner of the inaugural Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition. As first prize winner, Sirena Huang, receives a cash prize of $30,000 as well as a new violin, crafted by celebrated violin makers Feng Jiang, Jeffrey Phillips, Andrew Ryan and John Young; a Silver-mounted bow from Eric Lane; a coveted Musafia Case donated by Reuning and Son Violins, Inc.; a signed copy of "The American Violin" provided by Tucker Densley, Christopher Germain, Philip J. Kass, Darcy Kuronen, John Montgomery and P. Dameron Midgett, IV; and a $250 gift certificate given by International Violin Company. Additionally, the first prize winner will receive public relations and artist management support, with future performances with the following orchestras and festivals: Atlantic Classical Orchestra, Fort Pierce, FL; Bach, Beethoven and Brahms Society, Brookline, MA; Brevard Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne, FL; Music in the Mountains, Durango, CO; and Newport Music Festival, Newport, RI, among others

Second prize winner Alina Ming Kobialka received a cash prize of $15,000. Third prize winner, Hannah Tarley, received a cash prize of $10,000. And, Quanshuai Li, receive Honorable Mention, with a cash prize of $1,000.

The EOIVC Finals were held on Saturday, February 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, February 5 at 4:00 p.m. at the Wold Performing Arts Center. The four finalists-that advance through the EOIVC Semi Final Rounds I and II-were featured in a performance with the Lynn Philharmonia conducted by Music Director Guillermo Figueroa. Each of the finalists was given an option to perform one of two concertos: Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D major (performed by Sirena Huang) and Sibelius's Violin Concerto in D minor (performed by Alina Ming Kobialka, Quanshuai Li, and Hannah Tarley). The event was streamed live on the EOIVC YouTube channel as well as on Facebook.

Sirena Huang (Age 22 from the United States)

Sirena Huang, age 22 and from the United States, made her solo debut with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra at the age of nine. Since then, she has performed in fifteen countries across three continents, and has been featured as a soloist with more than forty orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar in Germany, and Russian Symphony Orchestra.

Huang is the First Prize Gold Medalist of the 6th International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. In 2011, she won First Prize and the Audience Award at the Cooper International Competition. That year, she was also named the first Artist-in-Residence of Hartford Symphony Orchestra. In 2013, she was awarded the Hannloser Prize for Violin at Verbier Music Festival in Switzerland.?More recently, she was awarded Third Prize at the 2015 Singapore International Violin Competition and Third Prize at the 2016 Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition.

Huang has been selected three times as one of ten "Exceptional Young Artists" worldwide at the "Starling-DeLay Symposium for Violin Study" at Juilliard School. In 2006, she received the honor of playing for His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan and thirty Nobel Prize Laureates at the World Peace Conference held in Petra. In 2007, under the invitation of former Czech Republic President Havel, she played in the Opening Ceremony of "Forum 2000 World Conference" in Prague. In 2008, she was invited to perform during the ceremony in which the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity presented its Humanitarian Award to President Sarkozy of France.

She has been featured as a guest artist at the Aspen Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Verbier Music Festival, Ravinia Music Festival, Sarasota Arts Series, Albuquerque Chamber Music Festival, "The Great Music for a Great City" series in New York City, and many others.

The Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition (EOIVC) was established by celebrated violinist, Elmar Oliveira, in collaboration with the Lynn Conservatory of Music in Boca Raton, Florida. The mission of the EOIVC is to provide talented violinists, ages 16-32, who are at the start of their careers, with networking, management, public relations, and concert opportunities in addition to a monetary prize. These long-term career development tools-reaching well beyond financial support-actively demonstrate the strong dedication of the EOIVC to cultivating and nurturing developing musicians.

The first EOIVC was held in 2017. The international competition takes place once every three years. The first international panel included seven esteemed judges. The EOIVC's 2017 panel represented five countries-China, Germany, Iceland, Russia, and the United States-and each member is deeply committed to the development of young musicians. The 2017 judges were Andrés Cárdenes, Charles Castleman, Alexander Gilman, Gudny Gudmundsdottir, Daniel Heifetz (Chairman of the Jury), Ilya Kaler and Vera Tsu Wei-ling. Winners were chosen through an intensive four-step process, beginning with an online submission and culminating in two final performances.

The 20 competitors who were selected to compete in the inaugural 2017 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition were chosen from more than 80 applicants from 16 countries. The 20 competitors who advanced to compete in the Semi Final Round Part I ranged in ages 19-31 and came from eight countries-Norway, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, United States, Kazakhstan, Taiwan and Japan.

For more information, please visit the EOIVC website at www.elmaroliveiraivc.org.