Young Asians dominate classical music competitions

PARIS—Meeting 16-year-old violin virtuoso Shion Minami of Japan minutes after watching her rehearse with the Orchestre National de France, on the eve of a major competition, is a rather unsettling experience. On stage, Minami exuded power, confidence and an astounding mastery of her art as she bowed her was through the Saint Saens concerto that she was also to perform here on Saturday during the final of the prestigious Long-Thibaud violin competition, held every three years.
Slight of figure, she planted her feet apart to keep her balance as she attacked the concerto’s more dramatic passages, black bangs slapping against her forehead. In person, she is someone else: a painfully shy child clutching her violin case like a security blanket as she politely answers questions through a translator. And so it is in the world of classical music these days, where finalists — especially in piano and violin competitions — are younger than ever, and more often than not from Japan, Korea or, more recently, China. The Long-Thibaud is a case in point: more than half of the 41 qualifiers came from east Asia, and another three were Asians living in Europe or North America.
Even more remarkable was their staying power through several eliminatory rounds. There were 11 Asians among the 16 finalists, and a 12th, 19-year-old Yuki Manuela Janke of Germany, has one Japanese parent. Minami, Janke and South Korea’s Ji-Yoon Park, 20, are all finalists, the other three coming from Armenia, France and the Netherlands.
“The increasing presence of young Asian musicians is unmistakable,” says Madame Claude Perin, organizer of the Long-Thibaud event. “It started with the Japanese, then the Koreans and now the Chinese.” Two weeks earlier, in the International Frederick Chopin piano competition in Poland, the national distribution among the 12 finalists was about the same, including four Japanese, three Koreans and one Chinese from Hong Kong.
“Personally, I am most worried about the Chinese,” Perin says, alluding to the already stiff competition for orchestral positions in Europe. “Not only do have they have the technique, they have the emotional depth too, more in keeping with Western tradition.” Inspired by 20-something celebrities such as Midori of Japan and Korean-American Sarah Chang, both violinists, or Chinese pianist Lang Lang, literally millions of young east Asians are studying classical music with a vengeance.
Many start very, very young.
“I was two when I first picked up my brother’s violin,” Minami said. “I began taking lessons when I was three.” What is sometimes called a Confucian work ethic, and the parental deference that comes with it, also play a role. Minami practices two hours every day when she comes home from school, and another two hours after dinner, she says.
Carrying the national flag is not necessarily part of the motivation to excel. “I do not feel like I am representing my country at a competition like this,” said Minami. “I just try to play as well as I can.” But Miss Park, who came to Paris with her mother five years ago to study with noted violinist Roland Daugareil, is keenly aware of the fact that she is the only South Korean to have made it to the finals.
“But I don’t think about it when I am performing,” she said. On a music stand in the small room where Park is warming up before her orchestral rehearsal is the score — heavily annotated in Korean — of the Brahms concerto she has chosen to perform. “I have written notes to myself, she explains sheepishly.”This one says ‘not too fast’,” she said, pointing to the score.