On October 8, 2017, history was made at the gala concert for the inaugural 2017 Vancouver International Music Competition (VIMC) with the conclusion of the first large-scale international music competition in Vancouver and the province of British Columbia. Organized by Canada International Arts & Music Society (CIAMS) in part to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada, the competition featured three age groups and categories for piano, stringed instruments, and voice. The competition accepted almost three hundred applications representing competitors from around the world.
The gala concert for the 2017 Vancouver International Music Competition featured an awards ceremony and performances of the talented winners of the competition. The gala concert also had special guest performers including pianist and member of the jury for the VIMC, Sasha Starcevich, and a piano trio featuring the President of the University of British Columbia, Dr. Santa Ono, alongside violinist Jenny Lum and pianist Eric Wong.
The international jury members of the VIMC included musicians representing each category with Sasha Starcevich, Mark George, Corey Hamm, and Keiko Alexander judging for the piano category. The strings jury was comprised of Andrew Dawes, Lynne Turner, and Sean Bickerton. Jury members for voice category included Rui Shi Zhuo, Nancy Hermiston, and Oswaldo Iraheta.
Platinum Cash Prize Winners:
| Łukasz Mikołajczyk | Piano – Artists Category | Poland |
| Takumi Taguchi | Strings – Young Artists Category (Violin) | USA/Japan |
| Geoffrey Schellenberg | Voice – Artists Category (Baritone) | Canada |
1st Place Cash Prize Winners:
| Charlotte Wong | Piano – Young Artists Category | USA |
| Tiffany Yeung | Strings – Young Artists Category (Violin) | Canada |
| Yeeun Lee | Voice – Artists Category (Mezzo-Soprano) | South Korea |
2nd Place Cash Prize Winners:
| Stephen Nguyen | Piano – Artists Category | Canada |
| Robert Choi | Strings – Young Artists Category (Cello) | Canada |
| Amy Moodie | Voice – Artists Category (Soprano) | Canada |
In addition to these cash prizes, two performers were awarded cash prizes for their performances of Canadian Repertoire by the jury. These winning performances included:
Best Overall Performance of a Canadian Composition ($150):
| Amy Moodie | Voice – Artists Category (Soprano) | Canada |
Outstanding Performance of a Canadian Composition ($100):
| Rafael Brisebois | Strings – Junior Talent Category (Violin) | Canada |
The VIMC also recognized other talented performers with Gold, Silver, and Bronze prizes. Gold, Silver, and Bronze prizes were awarded as follows:
Gold Prizes:
| Eunhwa Lee | Piano – Artists Category | South Korea |
| Marin Chiba | Piano – Young Artists Category | Japan |
| Felipe Jiang | Piano – Junior Talent Category | Argentina |
| Jacob Clewell | Strings – Artists Category | USA |
| Griffin Linklater | Strings – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Rafael Brisebois | Strings – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Brianna DeSantis | Voice – Artists Category | Canada |
| Meiling Ji | Voice – Junior Talent Category | China |
Silver Prizes:
| Jui-Sheng Li | Piano – Artists Category | Taiwan |
| Nicole Linaksita | Piano – Artists Category | Canada |
| Hyejin Pak | Piano – Artists Category | South Korea |
| William Lin | Piano – Young Artists Category | China |
| Sue Wang | Piano – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Michelle Jia Yun Xu | Piano – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Matthieu Foresi | Piano – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Paul Wang | Piano – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Sarah Yang | Piano – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Luis Angel Medina | Strings – Artists Category | Canada |
| Sophie Baird-Daniel | Strings – Artists Category | USA |
| James Butler | Strings – Young Artists Category | USA |
| Davin Mar | Strings – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Victoria Wong | Strings – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Tamra Jones | Voice – Artists Category | USA |
| Jason Klippenstein | Voice – Artists Category | Canada |
| Stanford Guo | Voice – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Anjulie Djearam | Voice – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
Bronze Prizes:
| Vivian Chen | Piano – Artists Category | Canada |
| Renon Chiba | Piano – Artists Category | Japan |
| Benjamin Hopkins | Piano – Artists Category | USA |
| Xin Zhang | Piano – Artists Category | China |
| Yuan Zhuang | Piano – Artists Category | China |
| Angela Hu | Piano – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Jiwei Ruan | Piano – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Towa Stewart | Piano – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Ranfei Wang | Piano – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Yilang Zhou | Piano – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Edward Duan | Piano – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Brian Li | Piano – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Austin Ng | Piano – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Joshua Tromans | Piano – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Nina Wang | Piano – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Honoka Shoji | Strings – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Renee Hui | Strings – Junior Talent Category | Hong Kong |
| Eric Tang | Strings – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Diana Agasian | Voice – Artists Category | Canada |
| Shutong Zhang | Voice – Artists Category | China |
| Meilin (Mary) Guo | Voice – Junior Talent Category | China |
Certificates of Merit for Best Performance of a Canadian Composition:
| Nicole Linaksita | Piano – Artists Category | Canada |
| Annie Cao | Piano – Young Artists Category | China |
| Paul Wang | Piano – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Jacob Clewell | Strings – Artists Category | USA |
| Robert Choi | Strings – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Davin Mar | Strings – Junior Talent Category | Canada |
| Stanford Guo | Voice – Young Artists Category | Canada |
| Meiling Ji | Voice – Junior Talent Category | China |
Teachers of Cash Prize Winners:
Lee Kum Sing, Simon James, Peter Barcza, Corey McVicar, Conrad Chow, Dale Throness, Sara Laimon, Joseph Elworthy, Lorna MacDonald, and Antje Neumann
Teachers of Gold Medalists:
Antje Neumann, Sakai Ciharu, Steven Dann, Sophie Roland, Jerrica Santos, Ingrid Henderson, James Tocco, and Hanh Nguyen
Teachers of Silver Medalists:
Awadagin Pratt, Bradley Williams, Daniel Bolshoy, Debra DaVaughn, Donna Fishwick, Corey Hamm, Eugene Skovorodnikov, Jeremy Attanaseo, Joanne Hounsell, Rachel Haisell, Judy Loman, and Manti Poon, Nicholas Rada, Peter Barcza, Kyoko Hashimoto, Rada Bukhman, Ronald Morgan, Tanya Shevtsov, Victor Shevtsov, and Yuri Zaidenberg
Teachers of Bronze Medalists:
Bernard Duerksen, Corey Hamm, Craig Sheppard, David Vandereyk, Diane King, Donna Fishwick, Edith Pun, Guang Yang, Irina Voro, Jerri Lee Mercer, Jessica Zhang, Kenneth Broadway, Kikuchi Reiko, Libby Yu, Lydia Wong, Miya Otake, Sergei Saratovsly, Shelley Roberts, Vicky Chen, and Vladimir Viardo
Supporters and Sponsors
The VIMC would like to thank Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, BC Premier John Horgan, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, Member of Legislative Assembly Teresa Wat, Member of Parliament Alice Wong, CEO of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Jeff Alexander, Music Director of Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Bramwell Tovey and BC director of the CMC Sean Bickerton for sending greeting letters for the event. The 2017 VIMC is supported by the Canadian Music Centre and graciously acknowledges sponsors including UBC School of Music, The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, Tom Lee Music, The Royal Conservatory of Music, Shiyun Financial group, Wesley Arts Academy, Vancouver Chinese Culture & Arts Foundation, VSO School of Music, Vancouver Central School of Music, Cool-Do, H+ Technology, We Do Wedding, Eyexpo, and other private sponsors. Media sponsors include Fairchild TV, Fairchild Radio, Phoenix TV, Zhidao Media, Vancouver Shinpo, Westca, Lahoo, VanPeople, BLMS and VISM.
VIMC Official Online Content
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Website: https://vancouvercompetition.com/
