Playing Famed Guarneri Violin is Reward for Paganini Winner
By Anne Garside

Bin Huang, a 23-year-old student at the Peabody Conservatory
of Music, is the first-place winner in the 41st Paganini
International Violin Competition in Genoa, Italy, out of a
field of 50 competitors from around the world. 
    The final round of competition was held earlier this
month. Bin was awarded first place and the Paganini Prize,
an additional honor given only if the judges decide the top
winner is exceptional.
    Bin was awarded 15 million lira--about $10,000--and
performed a winner's recital on Oct. 12, Columbus Day, in
Genoa City Hall. She played on the famed Guarneri violin
that belonged to Niccol� Paganini (1782-1840), who was born
in Genoa and whom many regard as the greatest virtuoso
violinist of all time. The violin is kept in a glass case in
Genoa City Hall and only the winner of the Paganini
Competition is allowed to play it once each year.
         Bin, a citizen of the People's Republic of China,
will perform many recitals in Europe over the next few
months as a result of her win. 
      News of Bin's award was greeted with enthusiasm in
both Genoa and Baltimore because the two are "sister
cities."
       Bin began her violin study at age 4 in her hometown
of Hunan. In 1980 she entered the Central Conservatory of
Music in Beijing. After winning the Wieniawski International
Violin Competition in Lubin, Poland, in 1985, she performed
concerts throughout China and Europe. She came to the United
States in 1988 to study with Berl Senofsky at Peabody. Since
then, she has won international competitions in Paris,
Prague and Brussels. Bin is currently an Artist Diploma
student.