Primrose International Viola Competition

Last updated August 12, 2022

The Primrose International Viola Competition (PIVC), also referred to as the Primrose Memorial Scholarship Competition (PMSC), is an international music competition for viola players sponsored by the American Viola Society and named for the 20th-century virtuoso William Primrose.

History

International music competitions for instruments such as violin and piano had been held for decades. However, there was a void in the music world to recognize the viola as a major solo instrument. Because of a lack of substantial viola solo literature, the instrument's potential was not realized until the appearance of Lionel Tertis, considered the "father of viola playing". William Primrose continued in Tertis' footsteps of excellence in viola performance, catapulting the instrument on to the international stage. The Primrose International Viola Competition was created in 1979 as the first competition solely for the instrument. In subsequent years other major viola competitions arose: the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition, the now defunct Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition and, most recently, the Tokyo International Viola Competition.

The Primrose International Viola Competition has been held regularly since 1986, often in conjunction with biennial meetings of the North American Viola Congress. The competition currently makes its home in Los Angeles, California at the Colburn School. Eligible participants are 29 years and younger of any nationality. The competition involves three rounds during a week-long festival in which entrants perform a required work as well as several choices from a viola repertoire list that includes solo works, sonatas, concertos and transcriptions by Primrose.

PIVC / PMSC laureates

PIVC No.	PMSC No.	Year	Location	1st Prize	2nd Prize	3rd Prize	Notes / Jurists
16		2021	Colburn School Los Angeles, California	Natalie Loughran	Samuel Rosenthal	/ Nicholas Swensen	Jury: Barry Shiffman (Chairman), Andrés Cárdenes, Victoria Chiang, Daniel Heifetz, Mai Motobuchi, Dimitri Murrath, Chauncey Patterson
15		2018	Colburn School Los Angeles, California	Hae-Sue Lee	Zoë Martin-Doike	Leonid Plashinov-Johnson	Jury: Lars Anders Tomter (Chairman), Roland Glassl, Kazuhide Isomura, Nokuthula Ngwenyama, Xidi Shen, Jon Nakamatsu
14		2014	Colburn School Los Angeles, California	Zhanbo Zheng	Manuel Vioque-Judde	Cong Wu	Jury: Cathy Basrak, Martin Beaver, Claudine Bigelow, Caroline Coade, Wing Ho, Luis Magín, Massimo Paris, Cassandra Lynne Richburg, Pierre-Henri Xuereb Honorable Mention: Born Lau, Kei Tojo
13		2011	Robertson & Sons Violins University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico	Ayane Kozasa	/ Elias Goldstein	Vicki Powell	Jury: Che-Yen Chen, Kirsten Docter, Wing Ho, Luis Magín, Karen Ritscher, Yitzhak Schotten, Barbara Westphal, Juliet White-Smith, Karin Brown Honorable Mention: Da Kyung Kwak, Matthew Lipman
12	(11)	2008	Arizona State University Tempe, Arizona	Dimitri Murrath	Emily Deans	Molly Carr	Held in conjunction with the 36th International Viola Congress. Jury: Claudine Bigelow (Chairman), Ensik Choi, Bruno Pasquier, Carol Rodland, Eugene Sârbu, Amir Shiff, Steven Tenenbom
	10	2005	Brigham Young University Provo, Utah	Jennifer Stumm	David Aaron Carpenter David Kim	— not awarded —	Jury: Matthew Dane (Chairman), Carol Rodland, Daniel Foster, Susan Dubois, Nokuthula Ngwenyama Honorable Mention: Yu Jin
	9	2003	Samford University Homewood, Alabama	Che-Yen (Brian) Chen	Teng Li	Nils Mönkemeyer	Jury: Helen Callus (Chairman), Barbara Hamilton, Michael Palumbo, Kathryn Steely, Dwight Pounds Honorable Mention: Amalia Aubert, Abigail Evans
	8	2001	Elmhurst College Elmhurst, Illinois	Antoine Tamestit	Ula Žebriūnaitė	— not awarded —	Jury: Ralph Fielding, Jerzy Kosmala, Charles Pikler, William Preucil, Juliet White-Smith
	7	1999	University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario	Lawrence Power	Roland Glassl	Elizabeth Freivogel	Held in conjunction with the 27th International Viola Congress. Jury: Ralph Aldrich, Alan deVeritch, Hartmut Lindemann, John White
	6	1997	University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas	Christina Castelli	Rita Porfiris	Karin Brown	Held in conjunction with the 25th International Viola Congress. Jury: Karen Tuttle, Alan deVeritch, David Holland, Karen Ritscher
	5	1995	Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana	Catherine Basrak	Joan DerHovsepian	/ Scott Lee	Held in conjunction with the 23rd International Viola Congress. Jury: Donna Lively Clark, James Dunham, Csaba Erdélyi, Abram Skernick, Thomas Tatton, Marcus Thompson
	4	1993	Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois	Nokuthula Ngwenyama	Kathryn Lockwood	— not awarded —	Held in conjunction with the 21st International Viola Congress. Jury: William Preucil (Chairman), David Dalton, Mary Arlin, Paul Coletti, William Magers, Thomas Tatton
	3	1991	Ithaca College Ithaca, New York	Kirsten Docter	Kin-Fung Leung	— not awarded —	Held in conjunction with the 19th International Viola Congress. Jury: Emanuel Vardi (Chairman), Harold Coletta, David Dalton, Rosemary Glyde, Pamela Goldsmith, John White
	2	1989	University of Redlands Redlands, California	Daniel Foster	Ming Pak	Kai Tang	Held in conjunction with the 17th International Viola Congress. Jury: Louis Kievman (Chairman), David Dalton, Alan deVeritch, Roberto Díaz, Rosemary Glyde, Donald McInnes, Dwight Pounds, Sven Reher, Karen Tuttle
	1	1987	University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan	Lynne Richburg	Carla-Maria Rodrigues	Paris Anastasiadis	Held in conjunction with the 15th International Viola Congress. Jury: Robert Oppelt (Chairman), David Dalton, Rosemary Glyde, Nathan Gordon, Louis Kievman, Dwight Pounds, Ann Woodward
1	—	1979	Brigham Young University Provo, Utah	Geraldine Walther	Jun Takahira	Patricia McCarty	Jury: William Primrose, Ralph Aldrich, Joseph de Pasquale

Required composition

A compulsory work to be performed by all competitors has been selected for some competitions.

2014 – Aldonza, Movement II from the Viola Concerto (2013) by Christian Colberg (b. 1968); Christian Colberg website
2011 – Inner Voices for viola solo (2011) by Peter Askim (b. 1971); published by American Viola Society
2008 – Recitative for viola solo (2007) by Scott Slapin (b. 1974); published by Liben Music Publishers
1991 – Aria and Allegro for viola and string orchestra (1990) by Richard Lane (1933–2004)
1989 – Concerto for Viola and Orchestra (1989) by Wayne Bohrnstedt (b. 1923)

Related Research Articles

The viola ( vee-OH-lə, alsovy-OH-lə, Italian: [ˈvjɔːla, viˈɔːla]) is a string instrument that is bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the violin family, between the violin (which is tuned a perfect fifth above) and the cello (which is tuned an octave below). The strings from low to high are typically tuned to C₃, G₃, D₄, and A₄.

Lionel Tertis, CBE was an English violist. He was one of the first viola players to achieve international fame and a noted teacher.

William Primrose Scottish violist and teacher

William Primrose CBE was a Scottish violist and teacher. He performed with the London String Quartet from 1930 to 1935. He then joined the NBC Symphony Orchestra where he formed the Primrose Quartet. He performed in various countries around the world as a soloist throughout his career. Primrose also taught at several universities and institutions. He is the author of several books on viola technique.

A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Early examples of viola concertos include Telemann's concerto in G major and several concertos by Carl Stamitz and other members of his family. The first concertante work to use the viola without caution was Mozart's violin and viola Sinfonia Concertante.

The Viola Concerto by William Walton was written in 1929 and first performed at the Queen's Hall, London on 3 October of that year by Paul Hindemith as soloist and the composer conducting. It had been written with the violist Lionel Tertis in mind, and he took the work up after initially rejecting it. The concerto established Walton as a substantial figure in British music and has been recorded by leading violists internationally. Walton revised the instrumentation of the concerto in 1961, lightening the orchestral textures.

Paul Neubauer is an American violist. Neubauer was a student of Paul Doktor, Alan de Veritch and William Primrose. In August 1980, aged 17, he won the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and Workshop on the Isle of Man, which had commissioned Gordon Jacob's Viola Concerto No 2 as a test piece. He gave the first public performance in 1981 as part of his prize. Neubauer attended the Juilliard School, where he received his B.M. in 1982, and his M.M. in 1983. In 1984, at age 21, Neubauer became the principal violist with the New York Philharmonic the youngest principal string player in the Philharmonic's history, a position he held for six years. He became an Artist Member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in 1989.

Gilad Karni is an Israeli violist who has played in the New York Philharmonic and is currently principal viola in the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as well as a soloist and player in chamber ensembles. A founder member of the Huberman Quartet, with which he made his debut at Carnegie Hall, he has since appeared there with the Guarneri Quartet.

David Aaron Carpenter is an American violist and was the first Prize Winner of the 2006 Walter W. Naumburg Viola Competition. Along with his two siblings, the trio perform as The Carpenters, and the family, including their mother, run a family business dealing in violins, Carpenter Fine Violins.

Cynthia Phelps is an American violist whose versatile career involves work as a chamber musician, solo artist, and orchestral musician. Phelps is currently the Principal Violist of the New York Philharmonic, a position to which she was appointed in 1992.

Ashan Pillai is a British violist. He was educated as a music and academic scholar at Merchant Taylors School, London and then at the Royal Academy of Music, London, the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, the Banff Center for the Arts, Alberta, Canada, and the Juilliard School, New York City. His principal teachers were John White, and distinguished American pedagogues and former students of William Primrose, Donald McInnes and Karen Tuttle.

Jean Pougnet was a Mauritian-born concert violinist and orchestra leader, of British nationality, who was highly regarded in both the lighter and more serious classical repertoire during the first half of the twentieth century. He was leader of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1942 to 1945.

The Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition is an international music competition for viola players established in 1980 to honor the memory of the English viola virtuoso Lionel Tertis. This triennial event is held at the Erin Arts Centre, Port Erin, Isle of Man. Participants are of any nationality and are under 30 years of age.

The Maurice Vieux International Viola Competition is an international music competition for viola players established in 1983 by the French viola society Les Amis de l'Alto. The competition is named for the French viola player and teacher Maurice Vieux.

Lawrence Power is a British violist, born 1977, noted both for solo performances and for chamber music with the Nash Ensemble and Leopold String Trio.

Frederick Craig Riddle OBE was a British violist. He was considered to be in the line from Lionel Tertis and William Primrose, through to the violists of today such as Lawrence Power.

Bernard Shore was an English viola player and author.

Kenneth Harding was a violist in the BBC Symphony Orchestra for thirty-five years and a British composer, composing primarily for viola.

Harry Danks, (1912-2001) was a British violist and principal viola of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1946 to 1978. He was the founder and director of the London Consort of Viols.

Timothy Ridout is a British violist and 1st Prizewinner of the prestigious Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition.

References

↑ Primrose Competition news Retrieved 15 July 2020.
↑ Primrose Competition news Retrieved 11 Aug 2022.

External links

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[1] Primrose Competition news Retrieved 15 July 2020.

[2] Primrose Competition news Retrieved 11 Aug 2022.

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