PETALING JAYA: Malaysian violin-makers won four medals - one gold, two silver and a bronze - at the 17th International Violin-making Competition organised by the National Association of Artistic Italian Lutherie (ANLAI) in Pisogne, Italy on Saturday.
Kuantan-born Chang Song Jie, Malaysia’s first female luthier, was awarded gold for her handcrafted viola in the non-professional category, while Samuel Wong Li Wei from Sibu bagged a silver for his violin in the same category.
Kuala Lumpur native Maestro Tan Chin Seng, previous double-gold medallist and mentor to the two junior violin-makers, claimed silver and bronze for his viola and cello respectively in the professional category.
The jury penal was headed by Maestro Giorgio Scolari. Luthiers from countries including Italy, France, Germany, China, South Korea, Malaysia etc, compete for glory. Local press cremonasera.it described it was a “great surprise” to have seen the “skill and enthusiasm” established by Malaysian luthiers.
The competition was open to both professional and non-professional violin-makers in four types of instruments, namely violin, viola, cello and bow.
They were first judged for their craftmanship by an international jury of maestro luthiers, then tested by a second panel jury of musicians for their acoustic qualities.
Chang, 25, took part in the competition for the first time last year and achieved the rank of 15th for her violin in the non-professional category. This year, her ranking advanced greatly and she took home the highest prize for her viola in the same category.
She had named her craftwork “Laksa”, and was in the traditional costume of nyonya kebaya at the prize-giving ceremony, fully embodying the ethos of localisation of her team.
A 26-year-old newcomer Wong, praised for his “exquisite craftmanship”, had submitted his violin under the name of “Martha”.
Tan, in his early forties, learned the craft under renowned violin-makers Han Zhao Sheng of Beijing and Bertrand Yves Delisle of Cremona, and secured two gold medals for violin and viola separately in the non-professional category at the 10th Sesto Fiorentino competion.
After a hiatus of two years due to the pandemic, he moved on to the professional category at the Pisogne competion last year and his violin shared the place of 11th with three fellow competitors, before his viola “Harimau” and cello “Gunung Kinabalu” making to the top-three this year.
Tan, whose personal goal has been a craftpersonwith the Japanese shokunin (artisan) spirit, was genuinely pleased by his pupils’ earning international recognitions and regarded his mission to pass on his craftmanship fulfilled.
The award-winning instruments are displayed at the church of Santa Maria della Neve, Pisogne.