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Sirena Huang '18MM wins inaugural Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition

Sirena Huang

Violinist Sirena Huang '18MM has won the inaugural Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition, the final round of which was held on Saturday and Sunday at the Lynn University Conservatory of Music, in Boca Raton, Florida. Huang earned a $30,000 prize, artist management and promotional support, and a new instrument, bow, and case, according to a press release issued on Sunday by competition organizers.

In the competition's final round, Huang performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the Lynn Philharmonia under the direction of music director Guillermo Figueroa. Performances by four finalists were streamed live on YouTube and on the competition's Facebook page. "The 2017 judges were Andrés Cárdenes, Charles Castleman, Alexander Gilman, Gudny Gudmundsdottir, Daniel Heifetz (chairman of the jury), Ilya Kaler, and Vera Tsu Wei-ling," the press release said. "The 20 competitors who were selected to compete in the inaugural 2017 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition were chosen from more than 80 applicants from 16 countries." The competition was established by its namesake, violinist Elmar Oliveira, who is a distinguished artist-in-residence at Lynn University.

Huang is in her first year at the Yale School of Music, where she studies with Hyo Kang. In 2009, she was the First Prize Gold Medalist at the Sixth International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, which took place in Suwon, Korea. From 2011-14, she was the Hartford Symphony Orchestra's first artist-in-residence. She has appeared as a soloist with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Weimar, and Russian Symphony Orchestra and has performed at the Aspen Music Festival, Eastern Music Festival, Verbier Music Festival, Ravinia Music Festival, Sarasota Arts Series, Albuquerque Chamber Music Festival, and “The Great Music for a Great City” series in New York City, among other festivals.

PRESS RELEASE