Violinist Yuuki Wong awarded First Prize at the International Kingsville Competition By Kelly Haines
	RELATED Classical Prodigy: Violin Virtuoso is on the Cusp of a Brilliant Career		"In competitions," says Yuuki Wong, "anything can happen. You never know what the judges are looking for so the best you can do is to play really well. Everything else is beyond your control." Sound familiar? Many Conservatory students feel the same way when entering competitions, but Wong can tell you that the hard work is well worth it. Wong, a junior violin performance major from Singapore, won First Prize in the Grand Finals at the International Kingsville Music Competition, held March 30,31 and April 1, on the campus of Texas A&M - Kingsville. In the Grand Finals, he competed with five other finalists and performed Tchaikovsky's Concerto in D Major. First prize included a cash award of $4,000 and a performance as soloist with the Corpus Christi Symphony during the 2000-2001 concert season. At the preliminary competition, where he competed in the senior bowed division, Wong was awarded $2,000 as first prize winner. He was also given the Outstanding Violin Performance Award. Previously, he won second prize in the junior violin division of the ASTA Solo Competition in 1998. To prepare for the competition, Wong says he became more focused during practice and tried to concentrate on his technique. While it sounds intimidating to perform at an international competition, Wong assures others, "Competitions are a good source of exposure and a good chance to perform in a high-pressure situation. They make you work toward a specific goal, to perform at the highest level in a short time." Wong was born in Singapore in 1982. However, at the age of nine he was admitted to the The Yehudi Menuhin School for gifted young musicians located in Cobham, Surrey, England. In 1996 he entered the Lake Ridge Academy in Ohio. One year later, at the age of 15, he enrolled in Oberlin Conservatory as a performance and theory major. At Oberlin, Wong studies with professors Roland and Almita Vamos. He credits the latter for encouraging him to enter the Kingsville competition. Almita Vamos says of him, "Yuuki is very unique. He came to Oberlin at a young age, 15, yet he was very mature. He's brilliant. He's hard working. He's disciplined and very talented. And he's a very nice person. He's lots of fun and I've loved working with him." Wong has also studied with Natasha Boryzrskaya, Guan en Shen, Chin Sing Wang and Rosemary Furniss. He has had master classes under Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Mauricio Fuks, Zvi Zeitlin, Felix Andrievsky, Virginia Neikrug, Victor Tretyakov and Boris Kuschnir. Previous honors bestowed on Wong include second prize in the American String Teachers Association National Solo Competition, first place in the Ohio String Teachers Association and the Dean's Talent Award at Oberlin. Wong's performing experience includes serving as the concertmaster of the Soesterberg International Festival Orchestra in Holland, and performances at the Baroque Festival in Kassel, Germany, the Presidential Charity in Singapore, at Fairfield Hall in London, England, and with the Surrey Philharmonic. He appeared in Bombay, India, with the Bombay Chamber Orchestra and in a joint recital with Margaret Chen at Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore. His debut recital was in 1992 at Shell Theatrette in Singapore when he was ten years old.
			Back to the Backstage Pass