Prizes Awarded at New Zealand's National Music Competition

This past weekend, the National String Competition and Lewis Eady National Piano Competition were held in Auckland, New Zealand.

As first prize winner of the New Zealand National String Competition, Hyein Kim will receive NZD $5,000 in cash, a recital at Lewis Eady Steinway Showroom, and a performance opportunity with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. A graduate of Waikato University, he is a former winner of the International Padova Competition.

The second and third prizes were awarded to violinist KiHei Lee and cellist Christine Jeon respectively.

Awards for "Best Performance of a Classical Sonata" went to Hyein Kim, "Best Performance of a New Zealand work" to KiHei Lee, and the "People’s Choice Award" to Christine Jeon.

At the concurrent Lewis Eady National Piano Competition, pianist Otis Prescott-Mason was awarded first prize. Otis will receive NZD $5,000 in cash, a recital at Lewis Eady Steinway Showroom, and a performance opportunity with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. A student of  Jian Liu at Victoria University’s New Zealand School of Music, Otis is a former top prize winner at the New Zealand Junior Piano Competition.

The second and third prizes were awarded to Shuan Liu and Jessica Chi.

"The Hill Family Foundation for Art and Music and the Lewis Eady Charitable Trust works to serve our promising emerging musicians. We acknowledge the profound impact the pandemic has had on this age group — it has denied not only opportunities but has in many ways influenced their income and the stamina, purpose, and drive to keep practicing."

"We applaud our competitors’ resilience in the face of ongoing deferrals, and, through grit and dogged perseverance, we will make this competition happen for them. As they say, the show must go on."

The final round was streamed live on The Violin Channel on February 11 at 8:00 PM (ET) and is available to watch for playback.

The final round judge was Justine Cormack.