International success for gifted Perse violinist

Virtuosic violinist Francesca (Year 8) added another string to her bow with success at an international music competition in China.

She is no stranger to some of the world’s biggest stages, having performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York and Paris’ Cite de la Musique.

However, Francesca’s participation in the Khachaturian International Youth Competition in Beijing was the first time she had taken part in a live global music contest.

Performing in the professional children’s violin category (for ages 10 to 12), she came third overall, as well as winning the Chinese prize for her rendition of a traditional work entitled Fisherman’s Harvest Song.

Her achievements are particularly impressive as Francesca was the only performer in her section who did not attend a full-time music school.

She said: “I decided to enter because the Khachaturian Competition sounded like a very good opportunity and this was the first year there had been a category for my age group.

“I’ve performed in front of lots of people before, but this competition was more about trying to be as precise as possible in your playing because you were competing against other children and the judges needed to see who had the best skills.”

Francesca was picked to take part following an online pre-selection process in which she had had to submit a video of her playing some chosen pieces from a set list featuring in the actual competition.

The first round saw the violinists play two solo works, with Francesca electing to perform Telemann’s Fantasia No 10 and Wieniawski’s Caprice No 2.

“I was the last to perform in the first round and I usually try not to listen to other people,” said Francesca, who is also a talented pianist.

“There was a live stream of all the performances though, and when I was backstage practising, I could see the live stream and the stage looked very big with the judges right next to it, so I was quite nervous.”

Francesca made it through to the second round, where the musicians played two pieces accompanied by a pianist, in her case Wieniawski’s Polonaise in D major and her prize-winning performance of a Chinese work.

She said: “I was quite surprised to win the Chinese prize, especially as I’m from England and many of the children taking part were from China. I hadn’t played any Chinese pieces before, but it had lots of traditional Chinese techniques and it was good fun to play. It also widens what you can do.”

Only the top three musicians from each category qualified for the third and final round, where they played alongside the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra.

Francesca made the cut and was thrilled to have the chance to perform Saint-Saens’ Concerto No 3 with such an illustrious ensemble.

She said: “I’d played with the Vienna Ball Orchestra before, but this was my first time with a full orchestra and it was such a great experience.

“We had a rehearsal on the day of the round and it was just so nice to be able to collaborate with a really good orchestra. I was so excited to play with them.”

Francesca was elated with how she did in the competition and with her experience of the event as a whole.

“Getting to the third round was quite a big achievement because all the musicians in my category were so professional,” she said.

“I got to see a lot of very good musicians playing in the competition and it was nice to meet children from other parts of the world and make friends with some of them.

“I also think playing on stage in this situation was good to experience because you overcome any nervousness. It’s made me want to do more live international competitions, but I think what you can learn from them is more important than the outcome.”

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Listen to Francesca talk about her love of the violin and hear her play in our Perse podcast by clicking here.