BREAKING | Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition Announces Winners

18-year-old VC Young Artist Hina Khuong-Huu was awarded First Prize at the 3rd Triennial Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition

The Elevar Foundation, home to The Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition (EOIVC), has chosen the winners of the 2023 competition. The final round, which was held at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center on the campus of Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, saw four talented young artists perform with conductor Guillermo Figueroa and the Lynn Philharmonia.

All rounds are available to watch here on The Violin Channel.

The first prize went to Hina Khuong-Huu (18, France / Japan / United States). She received a $30,000 cash prize provided by the David and Amy Fulton Foundation, a new violin made by Christopher Germain, a Silver-mounted Bow inspired by Elmar Oliveira’s Dominique Peccatte crafted by Rodney Mohr, a Musafia case donated by Christopher Reuning of Reuning & Son Violins, coaching session with The Creatives Leadership Academy, and The Fulton Collection A Guided Tour.

She will also have the opportunity to perform in more than 40 guaranteed national and international engagements with orchestras, music festivals and concert series over the next three years, including a New York recital sponsored by Tarisio Fine Instruments and Bows and a performance in Cremona, Italy sponsored by Amorim Fine Violins. She will also receive three years of artist management and PR support.

Second prize went to Gabrielle Després (22, Canada / United States), who received a cash prize of $15,000 provided by Tarisio Fine Instruments and Bows and a Bamboo NuBow made by Rodney Mohr.

The third Prize Winner, Laurel Gagnon (28, United States), received a cash prize of $10,000 provided by Price Wealth Management.

Zachary Brandon (24, United States) received Honorable Mention, with a cash prize of $5,000. All four 2023 EOIVC Finalists will receive a PRESTO® Impulse carbon fiber violin bow provided by SHAR Music.

Gabrielle Després, Zachary Brandon, and Hina Khuong-Huu all performed Sibelius’s Concerto in D minor for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 47 while Laurel Gagnon performed Bartók’s Concerto No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra, BB. 177.

The international jury comprised Andrés Cárdenes (Chairman of the Jury), Scott Flavin, Ilya Kaler, Ida Kavafian, Irina Muresanu, Almita Vamos, and Peter Zazofsky, with David Cerone serving as an alternate judge.

A student at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Professors Li Lin and Itzhak Perlman, and Columbia University, VC Young Artist Hina Khuong-Huu is a former prizewinner of the Menuhin Competition. She has performed as a soloist with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Geneva, Flanders Symphony Orchestra, Mittel Europa Orchestra, and the Musica Mundi Orchestra. She also performs internationally in a violin duo with her sister Fiona.

A recent recipient of the Salon De Virtuosi Career Grant, she has played with Maxim Vengerov at Carnegie Hall and Buckingham Palace and collaborated with artists such as Grammy award winner Jennifer Koh. She has performed on the NPR radio show “From the Top” and has studied chamber music with the renowned faculty of the Perlman Music Program and with Shlomo Mintz at Crans Montana Classics. Her mentors include the likes of Vadim Gluzman, Jennifer Koh, and Menahem Pressler.