Three Violinists Advance to the 2019 Cooper Competition's Concerto Finals

Six violinists shined in the July 24 Recital Round of the 2019 Cooper International Competition for violin, with three earning the right to perform once again in the Concerto Finals beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 26, at Cleveland’s Severance Hall.

Each remaining participant will perform a complete concerto with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Gemma New. On the line is a grand prize of $20,000, in addition to second and third prizes of $10,000 and $5,000, respectively.

Isabella Brown (age 16) of Illinois will perform Dvorak's Concerto in A Minor, Op. 53; Eric Charles Chen (18) of New Jersey will perform Prokofiev's Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 63; and Shihan Wang (14) of China will perform Mendelssohn's Concerto in E Minor, Op. 64.

Tickets for Friday’s Concerto Finals at Severance Hall range from $13 to $30, and one student under 18 earns free admission with the purchase of each adult ticket. Learn more at the Cleveland Orchestra website or by calling 800-686-1141.

Friday’s Concerto Finals will be broadcast live on WCLV FM 104.9, Cleveland’s classical music station.

In Wednesday’s Recital Round at Oberlin, Jin Yucheng (age 17) of China, Yiyang Hou (14) of China, and Enrique Rodrigues (17) of New Jersey and Canada earned fourth through sixth place, respectively, and each takes home a prize of $1,500. Rodrigues also earned the Audience Prize, which includes an award of $500.

Wednesday’s Recital Round will be aired on WCLV at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 25.

Also on Thursday, outstanding Semifinal Round performers will present an Honors Recital at 7 p.m. in Oberlin’s Warner Concert Hall. The free performance will be live-streamed at Oberlin.edu/cooper.

Learn more about the 2019 Cooper International Competition at the official Cooper Competition website.