Twenty-six-year-old Soo-Hyun Park from South Korea made it to the semi-finals of the 2016 Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition. She lives in Vienna, where she is studying under Dora Schwarzenburg, who has been her teacher since Soo-Hyun Park was nine years old.

“Dora has taught me everything I know about music, and she is like a mother to me”, says Soo-Hyun Park.

Violinists often change teachers a couple of times in the course of their careers, but Soo-Hyun Park has never received tuition from anybody but Schwarzenburg. She has considered changing once or twice, but has never actually done so.

“I feel secure with Dora, and when I feel secure is when I learn best”, she says, although she sometimes seeks inspiration elsewhere.

“Competitions give me inspiration and feedback from the jury, and of course there’s the Internet. You can find all kinds of fascinating stuff there.”