Taiwanese violinist Tseng Yu-chien (曾宇謙) on Wednesday won a silver medal in the violin category of the 15th International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
No one won the gold medal in the prestigious competition this year.
Tseng, 20, beat contestants from Russia, Moldova, South Korea and Germany to achieve the best-ever performance for Taiwan in the competition, which is held every four years.
Photo provided by the International Tchaikovsky Competition
Four years ago, Tseng got through to the last-eight round of the competition as the youngest contestant and won a jury prize.
Tseng told reporters after the ceremony that he “had hoped, but not expected” to win and that he appreciated the recognition of the jury.
Tseng also said he was happy to win a silver medal.
Tseng said he plans to have a good rest because the process of preparing for the competition was difficult, involving rehearsals and practice every day.
For the final round, which was held over three days, each of the six violin finalists had to perform a concerto by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and one more of the candidate’s choice from a range of other composers.
Tseng, who played on Monday, chose a concerto by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.
Many of Tseng’s friends left congratulatory messages on Facebook.
“Yu-chien, we are so proud of you! Congratulations!” one of them wrote.
“You are our champion. Super!” another wrote.
“Thank you for bringing comfort to Taiwanese at such a time,” yet another said, apparently referring to a dust explosion at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里) on Saturday last week that claimed two lives and left nearly 500 injured.
First held in 1958, the event is a classical music competition for pianists, violinists and cellists aged from 16 to 32, and vocalists aged from 19 to 32. Each category is judged and awarded separately.
It is one of the top events in the international classical music community alongside the International Frederick Chopin Piano Competition in Poland, the Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Belgium and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in the US.
In this year’s competition, three contestants in the violin category shared third place, while two contestants were awarded fourth and fifth place respectively.
In third place were Halik Kazazyan and Pavel Milyukov of Russia, along with Alexandra Conunova of Moldova. Fourth and fifth place were awarded to Clara-Jumi Kang of Germany and Bomsori Kim of South Korea respectively.
Many of the 17 judges for the competition are world-renowned violinists, including Yuri Bashmet, Salvatore Accardo, Leonidas Kavakos and Vera Tsu Weiling (徐惟聆).
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,900) for advertisements that exceeded its approved business scope and ordered the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license would be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter supervision of Chinese e-commerce platforms and more stringent measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan as US President Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on origin laundering. The legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday met to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party
Taiwan and its Pacific ally Tuvalu on Tuesday signed two accords aimed at facilitating bilateral cooperation on labor affairs, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). The governments inked two agreements in Taipei, witnessed by Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) and visiting Deputy Tuvaluan Prime Minister Panapasi Nelesone, MOFA said in a news release. According to MOFA, the agreements will facilitate cooperation on labor issues and allow the two sides to mutually recognize seafarers’ certificates and related training. Taiwan would also continue to collaborate with Tuvalu across various fields to promote economic prosperity as well as the well-being of their
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
RSS