On April 26th, 2023, CIAMS announced the launch of 2023 Vancouver International Music Competition in Vancouver BC, Canada.
The 2023 Vancouver International Music Competition (VIMC) Committee held a press conference at the Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. We are thrilled to announce the 2023 Vancouver International Music Competition! This highly anticipated musical event will inject new vitality into the music industry, providing not only a stage for musicians to showcase their talent and skills, but also a platform for passionate musicians from all over the world to gather, exchange and share.
Organized by the Canada International Arts & Music Society (CIAMS), the 2023 VIMC was announced as an international classical music competition for three categories, piano and strings categories with four age groups, and a voice category with three age groups. Eligible strings instruments for the event include violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, and guitar. The VIMC aims to promote Canadian classical music worldwide by establishing prizes for performing Canadian classical compositions.
We warmly welcome musicians from all over the world to participate in this event.
Lynn Liu, the president of VIMC speaks at the 2023 VIMC press conference. She said the Vancouver International Music Competition was a great success in 2017 and 2021. CIAMS decided to hold a third VIMC again in 2023 because the society received good feedback and inquiries expressing their wish to participate in this competition. An international competition is a fantastic opportunity for musicians from around the world to share music, form strong connections, and to be exposed to new ideas and opportunities. There are many reasons for the huge demand and need for an international music competition and this is what we have set out to achieve. Again, we wish the competition to be a successful recurring event and will leave a lasting cultural legacy for our beloved city of Vancouver.
MLA Teresa Wat and Vancouver City Councilor Lenny Zhou sent the video greetings to 2023 Vancouver International Music Competition Press Conference.
As its director, Mr. Sean Bickerton speaks on behalf of the Canadian Music Centre in BC. He said the CMC is pleased to support the VIMC and to promote Canadian composers abroad. He talks about how impressed he is with the success of the competition, as well as how proud he is of Lynn for creating such a wonderful event and community here in Vancouver, Canada.
2023 VIMC Artistic Advisor Ilana Vered said that she served as VIMC jury last time. She understands both the joys and challenges of the competition. She believes that this competition is very special. Ilana emphasized that promoting Canadian music is important because the young musicians can learn and perform the music from different cultures.
The 2023 VIMC Artistic Advisor and Conductor Ken Hsieh shared his experience of participating in an international competition as a candidate and emphasized that the beauty of music competitions lies in mutual learning and cooperation. He mentioned music as a very important language and the need to keep the tradition going. He believes that Vancouver has become a music center and hopes that the contestants can get to know and understand each other. In the end, he shared his experience of playing Canadian music at a concert in Taiwan and expressed his pride in his native Canadian music and his desire to encourage people to discover it.
2023 VIMC Strings Jury Elizabeth Volpé Bligh praised the importance of holding an international music competition in Vancouver. There are also many local harp students who now can compete on a world level stage. She is very grateful to the organizers for their efforts and for the opportunity they have brought to this event.
2023 VIMC Committee Member Jenny Li introduced the competition information during the press conference.
Harpist Enrelle Ashong, 2021 Gold medalist of Strings age 8 and under category performed a solo piece “Concerto in B flat major” for harp by GF Handel and a duo piece, “Habanera Girls” by Alfredo Rolando Ortiz with her instructor Miya Otake.
Hamilton Lau, who won the best performance of a Canadian composition in Piano 18-25 category & a bronze medalist performed “The Architect’s Dream” by Jorden Noble, dedicated to the pianist Carl Petersson, and “Edge” by Vivian Kwok, a Canadian Composer and Masters student at UBC. Both pianist Carl Petersson and Vivian Kwok were present onsite at the 2023 VIMC press conference on April 26th.
Mr. Jeremy Zhang, the representative of Golden Top Financial Services and a long term sponsor for the VIMC spoke about his admiration for the organization and competition, and explained why Golden Top Financial Services will continuously support VIMC.
Mr. Graham Blank, Vice President of Tom Lee Music and a long term sponsor for the VIMC spoke positively about the competition committee’s efforts to hold an international music competition at the press conference.
Lynn Liu and Sean Bickerton were interviewed after the press by CBC Radio and OMNI/CityTV.
It was also announced that the final round of the VIMC will be held at Roy Barnett Recital Hall, UBC’s School of Music, on October 7th, 2023. A concluding gala concert featuring top winners of the competition will take place on October 8th, 2023. The total of $10500 cash prizes will be awarded to the top three Grand Prize winners in the Piano, Strings, and Voice categories.
Application Deadline: June 15th, 2023
More details about the competition can be found on the VIMC website: https://vancouvercompetition.com
VIMC Social Media: vimcmusic
CIAMS Social Media: ciamsociety
