Entrepreneur Michael Hill said the musicianship displayed by the 18 violinists who reached the semifinals, being held in Queenstown today and tomorrow, was "fabulous", but violinists from New Zealand or Australia were notably absent in a field dominated by Koreans and North Americans.
"We've got Sarah Buchan (of Christchurch), who nearly made the cut and she has the NZ Development Prize now and she'll enter again," Mr Hill said.
"New Zealand is quite isolated as a country and the big world out there is mighty tough.
It shows there are lot of Asians who have been practising since they were 4 and they are unbelievably dedicated.
"And they have European minds; they interpret the music as if they live in Vienna."
Mr Hill said the competition exposed young New Zealand musicians to world-class competition and music schools and an individual's dedication played a part.
The competition and its partners hosted public masterclasses in Wellington and Auckland, and informal classroom sessions in Queenstown and Auckland in June.
"What's unusual about the competition is the absolute level playing field and [there's] no politics. It's typical of New Zealand and pretty unique. The competition is gaining strength by being open and balanced."
Mr Hill said the Queenstown Memorial Hall was "not that great" a venue for the competition.
"These performers probably wouldn't have played in a worse place and they have to use the rugby clubrooms as a practice space.
"It's a big problem, but we're sticking with it and we hope we get a concert hall. It doesn't need to be gold-studded; it just needs to be a simple one."
A total of 18 young violinists from around the world are competing for the winner's cheque of $40,000, a recording with classical music label Naxos and a winners tour in 2010.
Second to sixth place-getters receive from $10,000 to $1000 and a prize of $2000 will be awarded to the semifinalist who has the best performance of New Zealand composer Gareth Farr's, specially commissioned work titled Wakatipu.
In a first for the competition, the audience on the night of the final will determine the Michael Hill Audience Prize through text voting.
A sought-after prize is the two-year loan of a contemporary Cremonese violin by master craftsman Riccardo Bergonzi.
• The competitors are: Alexander Read (Canada), Danbi Um (Korea), Jinjoo Cho (Korea), Huynjoo Choo (Korea), Hye-Jin Kim (Korea), Kyoko Yonemoto (Japan), Dami Kim (Korea), Mateusz Smol (Poland), Sadie Fields (Canada), Josef Spacek (Czech Republic), David McCarrol (USA), Luanne Homzy (Canada), Emilie-Anne Gendron (USA), Sophie Rosa (UK), Tessa Lark (USA), Jee Won Kim (Korea), Maxim Kosinov (Russia), Yoo Jin Jang (Korea).
• The six finalists will be announced tomorrow about 5.30pm in the hall.
