Ben participated in this competition last Saturday (October 4).
When we got there we realized he was up against stiff competition. Another violinist in it did better than him in two competitions he was in last year. Also, of the 12 finalists there were 6 pianists and some of them were playing very challenging repertoire. And they only pick one winner.
So he wasn’t surprised when he didn’t get the ‘winners’ phone call. But he played his best and both performances went well. (We don’t have any recordings because it was a closed competition.)
He got the comments from the two judges in the mail yesterday. They wrote comments and graded him using a four grade system. One judge gave him the highest grade on everything in the Shostakovich (violin) and wrote very glowing comments about his technique and musicality. That judge also praised his musicality in the Liszt (piano). The other judge also wrote some nice comments. He got the highest or second highest grade on everything from both judges on both instruments. Although he didn’t win, the comments are helpful and encouraging.
Ben will be performing the Shostakovich with his school orchestra in December since he won their concerto competition with it. He’s going to continue entering competitions with the Liszt until the CSO competition next March.