Last night judges declared the final victor at Michael Hill! As we announced on our Facebook page earlier today, Russian Sergey Malov won the international violin competition in New Zealand.
Malov, along with the two other finalists Richard Lin (2nd place) and Xiang Yu (3rd place) performed on Saturday June 11 with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra.
Announcement of awards/winners
For Sergey it was an early birthday present – he turns 28 next Saturday – and a hat trick of wins as he scooped the top prize along with the inaugural J. Paul Anderson Award for best chamber music player and the Audience Award won by text voting.
“I just feel absolutely amazing,” he said afterwards. “It’s fantastic. I think winning was a sum of so many things – I was the oldest competitor and everything came together at the right time for me.”
Sergey said he was looking forward to returning to New Zealand next year and touring with Chamber Music New Zealand. “I’ve had a fantastic time here and it will be wonderful to return.”
Runner-up was Richard Lin (19) of Taiwan/USA followed by third place getter Xiang Yu (22) of China. Nadir Khashimov of Uzbekistan/United States was awarded fourth place with Eric Silberger (United States) in fifth place and Stefani Collins (United States) in sixth place. Second through sixth place getters receive from NZ$10,000 to NZ$1,000.
Sergey Malov, as the competition winner, receives NZ$40,000, a recording with the New Zealand label Atoll, and a tour with Chamber Music New Zealand for 2012. He was voted the best chamber music player and the Michael Hill Audience Prize won by text voting.
Sergey Malov performing the Beethoven “Ghost” Trio in D Major, Op 70 during the third round
Perhaps much more meaningfully, Malov comes away from this with a distinguished honor and recognition for his victory at this prestigious competition, having successfully competed against incredible violinists from around the world.
The other three competitors who participated in the last round of the semi-finals ranked as thus:
- 4th Place, Nadir Khashimov
- 5th Place, Eric Silberger
- 6th Place, Stefani Collins
Check out videos from the third and final rounds of the competition! Congratulations to all competitors!
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