ODESA INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION

Odesa, Ukraine

WFIMC: Please tell us the background, history and legacy of your competition.

Andrii Murza: «Odesa» and «violin» are synonyms. It was in Odesa that the first "Special Music School" for gifted children, founded by the outstanding teacher Pyotr Stolyarsky, arose in the USSR. In the words of Jacques Thibaud: "His teaching is something that the world should be proud of!” Stolyarsky’s pedagogical gift made for brilliant results. His students, particularly David Oistrakh, Boris Goldstein, Nathan Milstein, Elizabeth Gilels and Mikhail Fichtenholz brought world recognition to the Odesa violin school. Later, famous violinists such as Zakhar Bron, Pavel Vernikov, Dora Schwartberg, Rosa Fain and many others became bright followers of the Odesa violin school.

The traditions and history of the Odesa violin school became a prerequisite for the emergence of the Odesa International Violin Competition. Founded in 2016, this musical forum has become an important event in the cultural life of the city, which can truly be considered as a cradle of violin performance and one of the largest cultural centers in Eastern Europe. Over the years, our competition has attracted the attention of a large number of gifted young musicians from all over the world and has become a platform where rising stars can open up their talent.

This year we are honored to be accepted into the WFIMC family. For us, this is a very big responsibility and an indicator that we are moving in the right direction.

How has your competition been influenced by Covid-19? What are your plans, your vision for the future?

Of course, the pandemic has affected almost everyone, and we are not an exception. Unfortunately, our planned competition for 2020 couldn’t take place. However, 2021 was the year of Pyotr Stolyarsky’s 150th anniversary, which is an event that couldn’t be left uncelebrated. The risks remained very high, but despite all the difficulties, we held a live competition and dedicated it to the memory of Pyotr Stolyarsky. It was a challenge not only for the contestants, but for the entire organisational team. As a result, we held a brilliant competition, which showed that even in such extreme conditions, we can and must continue to believe in ourselves. Inspired by this, we began to plan the next competition and were sure that the hardest times were behind us. But, we rejoiced too early. February 2022 will be remembered by our country and the whole world for many years to come. A terrible war has come to Ukraine. It is difficult to say what’s going to be next and how soon the competition will resume. We can only hope and believe.

Which country/regions are most prominent among your competitors?

Certainly, many violinists from Ukraine participated in our competition. Ukrainian musicians are very talented and many of them are already well known in Europe. Among them are those who became our laureates. Moreover, for most of the violinists, it is a unique experience that they get without leaving their country. Also traditionally, a large percentage of the contestants are violinists from Asian countries: Japan, China, South Korea.