Kayhan Kalhor Wins Issac Stern Human Spirit Award

Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition has announced Iranian kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor as one of the recipients of the 2018 Isaac Stern Human Spirit Award.

Other recipient of the award, announced on August 28, is the Xiaoshuijing Miao Farmers Choir from Yunnan Province in southern China.

The award ceremony was held on Saturday in Shanghai. However, Kalhor, busy practicing for his concerts, could not attend the event and conductor Michael Stern, son of Isaac Stern, received the award on his behalf, Honaronline reported.

Kalhor, 54, is an acclaimed musician and a Grammy winner. A master of kamancheh, he is popular for his stirring improvisations, exquisite compositions, and close collaboration with international artists including Chinese American cellist Yo-Yo Ma, New York based string quartet Brooklyn Rider, American string band Kronos Quartet, Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov and Turkish folk musician, singer and baglama player Erdal Erzincan.

Established in conjunction with the first Shanghai Isaac Stern competition in 2016, the $10,000 award (to be shared by the two recipients) was created to recognize an individual or group - in any field and from any part of the world - who is deemed to have made an outstanding contribution to the understanding of humanity through the medium of music.

Recipients are chosen by the president of the competition’s organization committee Long Yu, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and members of the Stern family.

Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition is a biennial event held in Shanghai in commemoration of American violinist Isaac Stern (1920-2001) who in his prime was considered one of the great instrumentalists of the 20th century.

In 1979, China offered Stern an unprecedented invitation to tour the country. While there, he collaborated with the China Central Symphony Society (now China National Symphony). His visit was filmed and resulted in the Oscar-winning documentary “From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China”.