Editor's note: The Menuhin Competition Richmond 2020 has been postponed until May 13-23, 2021. Tickets already purchased for the event will be honored next year.
Illustration by Justin Tran
In May, music lovers around the world will be watching Richmond. They’ll be listening, too, as the Menuhin Competition, an 11-day festival of music, education and cultural exchange, comes to town. Cities such as London and Melbourne, Australia, vied for the honor of hosting this event, which invites 44 of the world’s most gifted violinists under the age of 22 to compete. Previous host cities include Geneva; Oslo, Norway; and Beijing. As they say in the booking business, this is a big “get,” and the people who worked to bring it here know it.
“Bringing the Menuhin Competition, the participants, competitors, jury members and artists in residence that come along with it, it’s going to give Richmond an unforgettable experience and opportunity,” says Richmond Symphony Executive Director David J.L. Fisk. “It’s an injection of inspiration.”
Richmond’s bid to host the biannual event, which has been held in the United States only twice since 1998, arose primarily through the collaborative efforts of the symphony, a couple of local colleges and the public media company VPM (formerly known as WCVE).
“What won for Richmond in the end was the consortium of the symphony, the city, University of Richmond, VCU and VPM, which persuaded the organizers the city had the capacity to pull it off, and the goodwill and relationships in place,” Fisk says.
“It's going to give Richmond an unforgettable experience and opportunity." —David J. L. Fisk, Richmond Symphony Executive Director
This year, there were a record-breaking 321 applicants representing 39 nationalities, and the 44 contestants advancing to the Richmond competition are equally divided into 22 juniors (ages 8-15) and 22 seniors (16-21). During the competitive rounds, the young players will perform selections by Bach, Telemann, Paganini, Rode, Mozart, Schubert, Franck, Ravel, Poulenc and Kreisler, covering three centuries of music.
The competition, nicknamed the “Olympics of the Violin,” was established in 1983 by celebrated violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin, who died in 1999. A child prodigy himself, Menuhin created the event as an opportunity for exceptional young musicians to develop as artists in the company of extraordinary children like themselves, while immersed in different locales and cultures. His legacy of enriching the lives of young people through access and exposure to the arts in a stimulating atmosphere remains the core of the event.
“What it isn’t is a cattle call or cutthroat survival-of-the-fittest kind of event,” Fisk says, “in part because of the ethos Menuhin himself promoted of being very nurturing and mindful and caring of youth.”
The last Menuhin Competition in 2018 was hosted in Geneva. (Photo by Oliver Miche Photography)
Caring Collaboration
Virginia Commonwealth University Assistant Professor of Violin Susanna Klein shared an account of Menuhin’s Richmond visit, which speaks poignantly to his character.
“In 1989, when Menuhin was here with the Warsaw Sinfonia, two little old ladies in the front row at the Carpenter Center broke out in wild applause after only the first movement of a symphony. Menuhin turned around and gracefully bowed a full bow to the two fans and then turned back to the podium to continue the work.”
Honoring his legacy and vision, a fundamental aspect of the event is the support and nurturing of the young contestants. Master classes and peer-to-peer activities offer a welcoming and interactive experience to all participants.
Regarding the collaborative nature of the event, University of Richmond President Ronald Crutcher praised “that notion of the entire community embracing the competition and coming out to support the young people, and the young people in the competition having the opportunity to get to interact with our schoolchildren.”
Violins for the People
While the event is geared to support the gifted players who compete, its programs are open to the public and include performances by seasoned musicians from different genres.
Bookended by two spectacular gala concerts at the Carpenter Theatre at Dominion Energy Center, the performances start with prize winners from previous competitions, and the closing concert will star this year’s champions. A concert by the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra, as well as the junior and senior final competitions, also will be held at the Carpenter Theatre. The first competitive rounds are set to take place at the University of Richmond’s Camp Concert Hall, followed by semifinals at VCU’s W.E. Singleton Center. Thomas Dale High School will host the Geneva Junior Prizewinners’ Concert.
Regina Carter (Photo by Christopher Drukker)
In addition to the core presence of classical music, the festival will spotlight American culture, with performances by renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter, fiddlers and pedagogues Mark and Maggie O’Connor, the Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra, and chamber orchestra Sphinx Virtuosi.
Richmond will be on full display as thousands descend on the city and millions around the world watch via livestream. Mason Mills at VPM will document the experiences of the young musicians. “One of the big things we’re really excited about is all these artists coming to Richmond from all over the world,” he says. “Some of these kids have never been to the United States before. They are going to experience our country by what they see in Richmond.”
The Menuhin Competition comes to Richmond May 14-24.
