NEC Violist Takes Third Prize at Tertis Competition

New England Conservatory viola student Wenhong Luo was awarded Third Prize, the "Artur Rubinstein Memorial Prize," at the 12th Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition held in March. The competition takes place triennially on the Isle of Man. At the ceremony, Luo received an award of £3000. She used a 1776 Gaspar Lorenzini viola which was kindly on loan by Reuning & Son Violins in Boston. Luo is currently studying in the Master of Music program at NEC with Kim Kashkashian, who herself took Second Prize at Tertis in 1980.

Luo discussed her recent win.

“I am very grateful to Kim Kashkashian, my teacher at NEC who helped and inspired me so much in the past two years to become a stronger viola player, a better musician and a more mature person. Winning a competition for me is a great honor, but really just a small step in my musical career, I still have long way to go to pursue my dream.”

Special jury prizes went to two other NEC students. Hung-Tzu Chu '15 B.M. was awarded the "Karl Doktor Prize" for the best performance of a work from the Austro-German tradition. Su Kyung Hong '15 M.M. received a Panel Prize.

Find NEC's Tertis Viola Competition prizewinners.

About the Competition

The Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition was established to honor the memory of the English viola virtuoso Lionel Tertis (1876–1975). The event is administered by the Erin Arts Centre with funding from the Lionel Tertis Foundation and the Isle of Man Arts Council. Participants are of any nationality and are under 30 years of age.

There were 90 original entries from 25 different countries. Of these, 44 were invited to participate in the week long competition. The week also included recitals and workshops by the World's top viola players, including the Festival's President, Yuri Bashmet. On the final night, each of the 3 finalists gave a recital and the overall winner was selected. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes were donated by the Tertis Foundation.

About Wenhong Luo

Originally from China, Wenhong Luo started to learn the violin when she was four years old, and at the age of nine she won the Silver Award of the first National Children’s Art Competition. She entered Beijing's Music School attached to Central Conservatory of Music and changed to the viola in 2004. During her studies at the school, she held the post of principal violist in the China Juvenile Symphony Orchestra for three years.

In 2006, Luo won first place in the Central Conservatory of Music Concerto Competition. At the age of 16, she performed the Walton viola concerto with the China Broadcast Symphony Orchestra. In 2008, she was interviewed by magazines Strad and China Music, with story titles “Future Star” and “Violist of the Future.” In 2009, with orchestra, she performed La Campanella for the first time, which achieved great success. In 2010 she moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music with Professor Martin Outram. She won the Theodore Holland Viola Prize in 2010, and also Third prize of the 19th Johannes Brahms International Competition in Austria in 2012. She was one of the semi-finalists and a special prize winner of the Lionel Tertis viola competition in the Isle of Man in 2013, and in the summer she played Hindemith's Trauermusik with orchestra in Italy, conducted by Professor Hartmut Rohde.