http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/06/world/asia/china-violin-isaac-stern-shanghai-competition.html 2016-09-05 10:36:21 Shanghai Violin Competition Celebrates Isaac Stern’s Legacy in China Mr. Stern’s visit to China, in 1979, is credited with having influenced a generation of young Chinese musicians. === More than 35 years after the violinist Isaac Stern made a groundbreaking visit to China, his legacy there lives on. The inaugural “We were looking for the kind of spark and commitment to music that our father would have embraced,” David Stern, co-chairman of the jury committee, said in a telephone interview from Shanghai. That Isaac Stern, who So when the conductor Isaac Stern’s dedication to training young musicians was perhaps most vividly captured in the 1979 documentary “ That visit, which came just as China was emerging from decades of self-imposed isolation and political tumult, is credited with having “During the Cultural Revolution, we didn’t have many opportunities to play Western music,” Mr. Yu, now conductor of a number of ensembles including the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, said in a telephone interview. “Then, in that moment in 1979 when Maestro Stern came, we suddenly felt the difference in how we could understand music.” Since 1979, classical music in China has Still, Mr. Yu said, “The problem in China, and Asia more broadly, is that the players are more concerned about technical issues.” So when it came to this new project, both the Stern family and Mr. Yu agreed that they wanted to make a more comprehensive competition that would reward musicians not just for technical ability, but also for all-around dedication to music. After two years of discussions and planning, the Stern family and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra came up with a competition structure that David Stern said his father, even with his distaste for competitions, probably would have approved. This meant including elements that were important to Isaac Stern, like chamber music and Chinese music. For example, contestants in the semifinal round were required to perform two concertos: “ The 24 contestants represented several countries, including China, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and the United States. In addition to the prize money, Ms. Kishima will also receive performance contracts with several international symphony orchestras. Sergei Dogadin of Russia was awarded the second prize of $50,000, and Sirena Huang of the United States took home the third prize of $25,000. The violinists Zakhar Bron of Russia and Boris Kuschnir of Austria were among the 13 who sat on the jury. The competition also presented an Isaac Stern Human Spirit Award of $10,000 each to two noncontestants: One, to Wu Taoxiang and Du Zhengquan, who founded the Einstein Orchestra, a middle-school ensemble in China, and the other to Negin Khpalwak, who directs an orchestra for women in Afghanistan, for “their outstanding contribution to our understanding of humanity through the medium of music.” Most of the funding for the competition, which will be held every two years, came from corporate sponsors, according to Fedina Zhou, president of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. The symphony has been expanding in recent years, forging a long-term For many musicians and music lovers in China, the competition represents further validation that China is well on its way to becoming a heavyweight player in the classical music world. “At last the Chinese people finally have an internationally recognized competition of their own,” said Rudolph Tang, a writer and expert in Shanghai on the classical music industry in China. “It has everything that a top competition should have, like a top jury, great organization, and high prize money.” “It is like a dream come true,” he added.