Photo illustration via Getty Images
It’s finally here. Postponed by pandemic restrictions last year, the prestigious Menuhin Competition, a weeklong festival of music, education and cultural exchange, is scheduled to take place May 14-23. The event, which invites 44 of the world’s most gifted violinists under age 22 to compete, will be presented in an almost entirely virtual setting while still being based in Richmond.
Organizers consider the new format an opportunity to bring more attention to the event and the city.
“It’s a tricky and very different scheduling conundrum,” says Lacey Huszcza, executive director of the Richmond Symphony. “We’re using every way possible to showcase the participants, the competition and the symphony within Richmond.”
Performances, master classes, workshops, guest artists, and the educational and community involvement for which the Menuhin Competition is renowned have been reshaped to fit a virtual setting.
“I think the challenge has been … to make the virtual event something really interesting and something positive,” says Gordon Back, artistic director of the Menuhin Competition. “The great thing is we’re working very strongly as a team because the success isn’t from one person or one organization. It’s a joint brainstorming for all of us.”
Adhering to the competition’s spirit of immersion for young people, the organizers developed programs to involve local schools. Through the “Adopt a Performer” program, K-12 students can engage with competitors who will join classrooms virtually to talk with and perform for students.
In addition to the competitive rounds, the event will include performances from the Sphinx Virtuosi, a chamber orchestra comprised of 18 Black and Latino classical musicians; renowned jazz violinist Regina Carter; and fiddlers and pedagogues Mark and Maggie O’Connor. The joint first-prize winners of the junior division from the Geneva 2018 Competition, Chloe Chua and Christian Li, will both perform solo recitals.
On Friday, May 14, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, May 15, at 8 p.m, a Richmond audience of 250 people per show will witness the Menuhin Competition Celebration Concert featuring Richmond Symphony guest conductor Jahja Ling and violinist Angelo Xiang Yu at the Carpenter Theatre. Both concerts, featuring the same performers, won't be streamed live, but they will be posted online later. A panel discussion, “The Danger of a Single Story: The Importance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Arts and Their Role in Society,” takes place on Friday, May 21, at 3:30 p.m.
The Closing Gala Concert features the 2021 winners of the junior and senior divisions, the Sphinx Virtuosi, and the Richmond Symphony with guest conductor Andrew Litton on Sunday, May 23, at 5 p.m.
While Menuhin 2021 will be virtual, the event’s coordinators intend to capture the experience for audiences around the world to see. “What we hope to create is an even larger digital world stage to show people what we have here in Richmond, so when it opens back up, we can bring people here to do something wonderful and celebratory,” Huszcza says, before adding, “We are utilizing the digital platform in the best possible way to show the world what a rich, cultural city Richmond is.”
The 2021 Menuin Competition events will be produced, streamed and televised by VPM and available to watch on the Menuhin Competition website, YouTube or The Violin Channel.
