Harbin, capital city of Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province was chosen as the permanent host site of Schoenfeld International String Competition. This was announced at a press conference for the 2018 Harbin Schoenfeld International String Competition held in Harbin Conservatory of Music on June 5.

Schoenfeld International String Competition, comprising of violin, cello and chamber, was initiated by Schoenfeld sisters, a world-famous violinist and cellist in 1930s.

The first competition was held in Hong Kong in 2013.

By now the competition has become one of the world's most prestigious international music events, along with Tchaikovsky International Music Contest, International Chopin Piano Competition and Concorso internazionale di violino "Niccolò Paganini" (violin contest named after Italy’s violinist Nicolo Paganini).

Since the 2018 Harbin competition opened for global sign-up  in November, 2017, 321 performers from 26 countries and regions have enrolled, seeing a year-on-year increase of 35.7 percent in the number of applicants. Among which overseas performers accounted for 274, a year-on-year increase of 78.6 percent.

A total of 70 violinists, cellists, as well as chamber musicians in five teams, are qualified for this year’s competition. The final competitions of violin and cello will be held from July 27 to 28; and the chamber competition is on July 26.

In addition to performance competitions, other music activities including seven concerts and a summit conference for leading musicians will be held during the event.

Harbin, capital city of Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province, is recognized as the permanent host of Schoenfeld International String Competition at a press conference held in Harbin Conservatory of Music on June 5. [Photo/Chinanews.com]