A first for New Zealand

16 May 2004

A first for New Zealand

The Michael Hill International Violin Competition has been accepted by the General Assembly as a member of the prestigious World Federation of International Music Competitions. This is the first time in the history of the WFIMC that a New Zealand-based music competition has been accepted as a member.

Created in 1957, the World Federation of International Music Competitions is dedicated to establishing a global network of internationally recognised organisations that through public competition discover the most promising young talent in the great tradition of classical music, and further their careers by presenting them before distinguished juries, general audiences, the media, and the rest of the music community. The WFIMC focuses on the ethics and integrity of competitions to set a benchmark and to ensure fairness in competitions.

In being accepted as a member of the WFIMC, the biennial Michael Hill International Violin Competition will join the ranks of some of the great violin competitions of the world such as the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, Italy’s Premio Paganini, Hungary’s József Szigeti and Poland’s Henryk Wieniawski.

Anne Rodda, the Director of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition, is naturally thrilled with the news. “It is a great achievement to be accepted into the WFIMC,” she said, “and of the other 112 members, we are, with the Melbourne Piano Competition, the only competitions to come from Australasia.”

In 2001, the first year of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition, Renate Ronnefeld, the Secretary General of the WFIMC, came to New Zealand to observe the competition and establish its worthiness on the international music competition circuit. She said at the completion of that first competition that “The standard of the competition and of all the semi-finalists was extremely high. It has been an enormous pleasure for me to attend the competition and I wish it every success in the future.”

Two competition cycles, conducted adhering to strict criteria, must be successfully completed before being eligible to apply for membership of the WFIMC.

ENDS

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