YLE - the Finnish Broadcasting Company - is happy to serve violin lovers all over the world with live webcasts from each round throughout the competition. Let's introduce some of the people involved.
Send your comments!
Abel Puustinen, 19, is an accomplished violinist himself and a competitor at the Kuopio national violin competition in January of 2015. He also won the "Janne" (Sibelius's nickname) Competition honoring Jean Sibelius this fall looking for prominent soloists to play with orchestras. Abel is one of the three young violinists in charge of the chat window during the live webcasts.

Abel admits he started preparing for some things too late. "It was very educational to try to reach the limits of practice hours. The goal also in competitions should be to give a good recital and most of all to play for the audience. Getting to the next round shouldn't be your only thought while preparing and walking on stage."
Abel's quotes are from an interview with Tatu Tamminen, whose daily articles the web audience gets to enjoy on the YLE pages.
We can see you...

Riikka has met with the chat hosts Essi Höglund, Tami Pohjola and Abel Puustinen, and she interviewed violinist Antti Tikkanen of the Meta4 Quartet, who will be a commentator in the live TV broadcasts of the final round.

The Sound of the Violin

The sound is the crucial part of a broadcast, and the YLE trio of sound engineers - Antti Pohjola, Anu Pylkkänen and Anna-Kaisa Kemppi - do their best in transferring the best sound quality possible for the viewers everywhere. Each one is specialized in classical music with a background of music studies. The sound profile for the violin and piano in the first and second rounds was easy to design. "The real challenge is to get the competitor to stay inside the square we taped on the floor," Anu smiles.
The finalists will play their two concertos with either the Radio Symphony Orchestra or the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Even though those three final nights are technically no different from the symphony concerts these sound specialists face every week, this time the excitement in the air makes work even more magical.
The introductions continue...