Writes Kian C. (L6th)
I took part in and won the Senior Violin Prize at the Royal Academy of Music on Saturday. The competition is held every two years and consists of a preliminary round followed by a final. There are three categories in the competition: Junior (Y7-9), Intermediate (Y10-11), and Senior (Y12-13). The adjudicator this year was Krysia Osostowicz, leader of the Brodsky String Quartet. I got through the preliminary stage two weeks before the final, and progressed to the final with two others. I played Bach’s Gigue from Partitia No. 2, and Nigun from Bloch’s Baal Shem Suite.
To prepare for this competition, I did lots of practice daily, improving my intonation and double stops for Nigun. I also had a lesson with a baroque teacher for the Bach piece, to perfect my phrasing. I was determined to win this very tough competition, doing at least 1:30hrs of practice daily, reaching a height of even 4 hours on some days. I am pleased it paid off!
