St John's undergraduate wins concerto competition

St John's student and violinist Julia Hwang has won the CUMS Concerto Competition, giving her the chance to perform with the CUMS Symphony Orchestra.

Julia Hwang, first-year Music undergraduate at St John's College, has just been awarded first prize in the Cambridge University Musical Society Concerto Competition. The competition, which took place on 3 February, was open to 33,000 students, and the violinist competed against five other finalists to win the top prize. Julia will now get to perform with the CUMS Symphony Orchestra in the 2015-16 season.

The violinist - who plays a 1698 Peter Guarnerius of Mantua which is on permanent loan - wowed the three judges with her performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.77: movement I (exposition), accompanied by pianist James Drinkwater.

"It is an incredible honour for me to win this competition with such a tradition of brilliant performers of every calibre," Julia said. "I enjoyed the whole experience immensely, and can't wait to perform with the CUMSSO next year!"

CUMS regularly runs competitions and prizes for the University's finest student conductors, composers and soloists, and has been nurturing and providing opportunities for Cambridge musicians for almost 170 years, making it one of the oldest university music societies in the world.

Julia gave her first professional performance at just nine years old, playing with the English National Baroque Chamber Orchestra. As well as giving numerous public and charity concert performances, she has won several prizes such as the Two Moors Competition and the Gregynog Young Musician of the Year. Julia has performed many times on live TV and radio, and she featured in a BBC4 documentary about Ralph Vaughan Williams' 'The Lark Ascending'.

The St John's College Music Festival, a series of free concerts running between 11 and 14 February and showcasing eight world premieres, was opened by Julia on Wednesday with a recital of popular Romantic violin music from Grieg to Debussy and Ravel. She will also be performing the Schubert Fantasie in C at the closing concert in the Old Divinity School. For more information about the Music Festival, visit the St John's College Music Festival webpage.