The twelve finalists of the KEW Violin 2024 have been announced.
· Joshua Brown
· Hana Chang
· Elli Choi
· SongHa Choi
· Anna Im
· Julian Rhee
· Karen Su
· Ruslan Talas
· Dmytro Udovychenko
· Minami Yoshida
· Dayoon You
· Kevin Zhu
Via this link you can read more about the finalists and download their photos on their personal page. The biographies of the finalists will be available from Tuesday 21 May on our press page.
Programme of the final
From Monday 27 May to Saturday 1 June, every evening at 20:15, two of the twelve violinists will perform in the Brussels Palais des Beaux-Arts, together with the Belgian National Orchestra conducted by Antony Hermus.
Order of performances of the finalists (pdf) and programme on the KEW website.
Each finalist will perform a concerto of their choice and the unpublished mandatory work by Thierry Escaich, Variations Litaniques, which was specially written for the final of this violin session (world premiere on Monday 27 May 2024). The candidates receive this work on the day they enter the Music Chapel. They therefore have only one week to study it without outside help. Journalists can listen to a recording of the work in avant-première in the presence of the composer, on 27 May at 18:00 in the Palais des Beaux-Arts. Please let us know if you would like to attend and meet the composer.
A few words from the composer about his work:
"The piece is inspired by the contours of an ancient Gregorian antiphon, Veni Sancte Spiritu. This serves as the litany upon which an unbroken and increasingly rich cycle of variations is based, exploring all possibilities for dialogue between the violin and the orchestra. Apart from references to the Gregorian tradition, we find ourselves here at the border of different types of litanies, where here and there an almost tribal dimension emerges, sometimes shifting into improvisations that sound like jazz or ritual dances. The almost obsessive rhythmic scansion that supports the work from the first percussion sounds does not prevent colourful, timeless orchestral textures or, conversely, passionate declamations from emerging, in which the violin tries to break free from the pulsing rush of the whole, and during that long progression towards the climax, seeks to give the musical discourse greater lyricism."
On Saturday 1 June, the proclamation of the ranking of the laureates takes place after the final finalist's performance, around midnight. The proclamation can be attended freely by everyone.
Broadcasting
Thanks to VRT and RTBF, all performances and the proclamation will be streamed live on our website. You can also follow everything directly on Klara and from 27 May to 31 May on the Ketnet channel. The last evening (1 June) will be broadcast live on VRT CANVAS. You can also follow the TV broadcasts on VRT MAX.
Jury members
The composition of the jury may vary from round to round, but the jury members sit throughout the round for which they are requested. In the final, these are: Gilles Ledure (Chairman), Augustin Dumay, Miriam Fried, Lorenzo Gatto, Philippe Graffin, Koichiro Harada, Dong-Suk Kang, Kyung Sun Lee, Midori, Vadim Repin, Vineta Sareika, Dmitry Sitkovetsky and Isabelle van Keulen.