Since live performances in China will still not be possible in 2022, the competition committee of the SISIVC has decided to name all six finalists as the 2020 competition Scholarship winners. I am very proud of the imaginative solution that the SISIVC has put in place in order to bring the 2020 competition to a just conclusion. The continuing difficulties connected to the pandemic have obligated us to invent an entirely new outcome. The six talented candidates who managed to make it to the finals already deserve credit for persevering during these difficult times. Offering these young people an equal amount of money as a scholarship and planning future concert appearances with China’s premiere orchestras shows that the SISIVC is committed to supporting young talent beyond the expected competition structure. These six musicians represent the future, and our job is to be part of a worldwide network that is committed to supporting them.
It is very much in the spirit of Isaac Stern that the SISIVC recognizes the talent in each one of the finalists and looks beyond the competitive atmosphere. Music is not a competition, it is the deepest form of communication, and the scholarships awarded to each finalist will help them explore how to express themselves with clearly defined individual voices. 2020 was the year the SISIVC intended to celebrate Isaac Stern’s centenary. and now in 2022 we do celebrate him in a way that would certainly make him very happy.
