Countdown to the Menuhin Competition
[Extract taken from The Menuhin School website news]
“Young violinists from all over the world will soon be gathering in London for the Menuhin Competition – which this year returns to the UK in honour of Yehudi Menuhin’s centenary.
The Yehudi Menuhin School [were Òscar teaches] is extremely proud of three current pupils, Louisa Staples, Coco Tomita and SongHa Choi who are now in their final stages of preparation having been selected as competitors earlier this year. Coco will be the first to compete in the Junior rounds on 8 and 9 April, while Louisa and SongHa’s Senior rounds take place on 10 and 11 April.
As well as relishing the opportunity to share their music with the world, all three are particularly looking forward to meeting and hearing the other young competitors, and being involved in the events that surround the competition. These include concerts, masterclasses, exhibitions and talks honouring Menuhin’s legacy and building up to the competition finals on 15 and 16 April. Winners of both the Junior and Senior sections will play in the closing Gala Concert on 17 April.
Coco [commenting on her competition programme]: My favourites are Grieg’s Sonata No 2 and also the newly commissioned work by Oscar Colomina i Bosch, Shpigl. The Grieg sonata is very romantic, full of emotion and a variety of characters. It is almost like programme music with a hidden story line. I also like Grieg’s use of folk elements in his melody as well as in the texture.
The newly composed piece by Oscar Colomina i Bosch is very deep but colourful. I have not had much experience playing contemporary music until now, so for me, it was very interesting learning this piece. It really was an eye-opening experience and opened up my curiosity towards this genre. I like the way the Oscar uses different extracts and elements from other pieces such as the Bartόk sonata and Elgar’s concerto. I also like the fact that the he has given us performers a lot of freedom both musically and theatrically.”
When asked how they organise their practice for these final stages, they all stressed the importance of continuing to pay attention to the technical details of each piece as well as finding the wider musical meaning.”
