In the second round of the 2016 Carl Nielsen Violin Competition the violinists have to play a work written specially for this year’s competition by Danish composer Jesper Koch. The idea is to show how quickly the contestants can learn new material and how they interpret a work that’s completely new to them.

Earlier today Rie Koch, our streaming host, asked twenty-four-year-old Alexandra Lomeiko from New Zealand whether it was just a “must do”. Alexandra certainly didn’t think so.

“No, I actually really enjoyed it. It’s really interesting piece, and having the opportunity to learn it … he’s got a really minimalist approach, and it’s been fun to play. It’s very scary to play because there’s so much that can go wrong!”

Alexandra gives an example: “In one of his markings, about putting on the mute, he actually writes ‘As quietly as possible’ and it makes you realize how loud you’re really doing it! But it’s well written. It’s a nice piece and I really like it.”