The 13th International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition concluded recently at the Helsinki Music Centre, celebrating exceptional young violinists from around the world.
Violinist Sueye Park was awarded first prize, receiving €30,000 along with the Instrument loan prize. This special award includes the loan of a prestigious G.B. Guadagnini 1777 “ex Sasson” violin for one year, generously provided by Dr. David Li in cooperation with Beare’s International Violin Society.
The second prize and €20,000 went to Minami Yoshida, who also earned the €3,000 award for the Best Performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto.
Claire Wells, a VC Artist, claimed the third prize, accompanied by €15,000.
Additional recognition prizes worth €3,000 each were presented to the remaining finalists: Gabrielle Després, Otto Antikainen, and Amia Janicki. Janicki also secured the €2,000 prize for the Best Performance of the Commissioned Work.
The final round of the competition featured the finalists performing alongside the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under conductor Dima Slobodeniouk, and the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Pietari Inkinen and Geoffrey Paterson, who stepped in for Pekka Kuusisto due to health reasons.
Notably, this year’s final included modern violin concertos alongside the traditional Sibelius Violin Concerto, marking a first in the competition’s history.
The jury was chaired by conductor John Storgårds and included esteemed violinists Elise Båtnes, Levon Chilingirian, Jinjoo Cho, Sung-Ju Lee, Réka Szilvay, as well as conductor-violinist Jan Söderblom.
About Sueye Park
Born in South Korea in 2000, Sueye Park began violin studies at four years old. She pursued formal training with Ulf Wallin at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin, followed by advanced studies under Clive Brown at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Park has performed with numerous orchestras, including the Orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, Staatskapelle Weimar, Korean Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. She has collaborated with notable musicians such as Adrian Brendel, Ralf Gothoni, Gary Hoffman, Yoel Levi, Tatjana Masurenko, Roland Pöntinen, Anna Rakitina, Nicolas Stavy, and Osmo Vänskä.
Her work has been broadcast on radio and television across Germany, Israel, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden. In 2017, she released a critically acclaimed debut recording of the 24 Paganini Caprices (BIS-2282), followed by a recital album titled ‘Salut d’amour’ (BIS-2382). Park’s album ‘Journey Through a Century’ (BIS-2492), featuring violin solo works, earned distinction as Gramophone’s Editor’s Choice for “Recordings of the Year” in 2021. Further releases include the three violin concertos of Isang Yun with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä, launched in 2022, and a 2023 album of complete violin and piano works by Karol Szymanowski with pianist Roland Pöntinen.
— The Violin Post Editorial Staff
