Elmar Oliveira knows a thing or two about music competitions. As an American violinist competing in Moscow in the 1978 Tchaikovsky Competition — where he won the Gold Medal, the first and still only American violinist to do so — Oliveira was thrust into a “cutthroat” environment in which the only goal was the top prize. “It was like an ocean with 100 sharks in it,” Oliveira … [Read more...]