Alvin Ho wins Princess Astrid International Music Competition

The Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera (TSO) has announced that conductor Alvin Ho has won the first prize in its conducting competition, the Princess Astrid International Music Competition.

The Hong Kong-born British conductor will receive a cash prize of 160,000 Norwegian krone (£14,029), as well as a future conducting engagement with TSO.

Ho said: ‘I hope this is the start of the beginning. There's so much to learn, but it's absolutely heartwarming to see so many messages of congratulations from around the world and from the musicians that I know. These kind of moments mean that whatever you have done, your sacrifice, your studies, does have a reward.’

Throughout the competition, which ran from 15 – 18 August, 12 candidates took part in three performance rounds and a masterclass with the Norwegian Conductors Program. The competition’s Second Prize of 50,000 Norwegian krone (£4,384) was awarded to Australian-British conductor Toby C Thatcher, with the Third Prize of 25,000 Norwegian krone (£2,192) going to Junping Qian from China.

The Princess Astrid International Music Competition, which sees its 22^nd edition this year, is a biennial competition run by the TSO under-35s that alternates between violin and conducting. Chaired by TSO chief conductor Han-Na Chang, the competition jury included HarrisonParrott co-founder and chairman Jasper Parrott, conductors Peter Szilvay and Anna-Maria Helsing, violinists Daniel Turcina and Elise Båtnes and composer Anna Clyne. 

Ho commented: ‘The TSO is a great orchestra and Norway has an absolute blooming classical music scene. The musicians are all very enthusiastic and very well prepared so I feel very extremely fortunate to have this opportunity.’

Having studied with Arthur Fagen, Riccardo Muti and the late Bernard Haitink, Ho has held assistant conductorships with of Florida’s Naples Philharmonic Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Indiana Opera and Ballet Theater. His other accolades include Karajan Conducting Fellow in Residence at the Salzburg Festival, Bruno Walter Conducting Fellow at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and semi-finalist in the Donetella Flick London Symphony Orchestra Conducting Competition.

Ho’s assistant conductorships have been instrumental in his recent success. He noted: ‘You learn from a lot of great musicians, great conductors, great orchestras in those roles. It's very interesting in the rehearsal how things are solved, and I could be sort of in the back seat and see how the machine is put together and how they all interact with each other.

So what’s next for the 29-year-old conductor? He said: ‘In the conducting business you really don't know what is going to happen next. It can be frightening, but it keeps you very much alive. I have my engagement with the Naples Philharmonic in the United States, so I have a base and I feel a bit more at ease because I have an organisation that embraces and supports me.’

You can find out more about the competition here.

YOu can find out more about Alvin Ho here.