COMPETITIONS

María Dueñas

DUEÑAS PHOTO TAM LAN TRUONG. RISUS PHOTO BYUNG KYU PARK. SUBRAKOVA PHOTO NATALIA MARKOVA

Risus Quartet

Anastasia Subrakova

1 María Dueñas, 18, has won the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition’s Senior Division. The Spanish violinist will receive a $20,000 prize and the two-year loan of a Stradivari violin. Dueñas studies with Boris Kuschnir at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria.

The Junior Division was won by US–Japanese violinist Keila Wakao, 15.

The prize comes with $10,000 and the two-year loan of a fine old Italian violin. Wakao studies with Donald Weilerstein and Soovin Kim at the New England Conservatory of Music, MA, US.

2 The South Korean Risus Quartet has won the senior string division gold medal and grand prize at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, which took place in South Bend, IN, US. The awards come with a combined $13,500 cash prize and concerts in the US and Italy. The University of Texas-based ensemble comprises violinists Haeni Lee, 29, and Jieun Yoo, 27; violist Mary Eunkyung Chang, 28; and cellist Bobae Lee, 27.

3 South Korean Jaemin Han, 15, has won first prize in the cello section of the George Enescu International Competition in Bucharest, Romania. He is the youngest person ever to win the award and its €15,000 cash prize. Han studies at the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts in Seoul, South Korea.

4 Russian violinist Anastasia Subrakova, 27, is one of three recipients of the Fritz Gerber Award. The award comes with a CHF10,000 (£8,000) cash prize and a CHF10,000 scholarship to join the Lucerne Festival Academy.

Subrakova recently graduated from the Zurich University of the Arts, where she studied under Ilya Gringolts.

APPOINTMENTS

• Violist Rosalind Ventris and conductor Joseph Fort have been named artistic directors of the Cowbridge Music Festival

• American cellist Mimi Hwang has been elected chair of the board of Chamber Music America

• US violinist–composer Jessie Montgomery has been appointed the Chicago Symphony’s composer-in-residence

• On 15 August Korean violinist Kristin Lee will join the University of Cincinnati College- Conservatory of Music’s faculty as assistant professor of violin

FORTHCOMING COMPETITIONS & AWARDS

International World Vision Music Contest online, for string players aged 16–35. First prize €100,000 Deadline 15 September; competition 27 February 2022 Web worldvision.classic-at-home.com

University of South Africa International Strings Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, for violinists, cellists and jazz bassists aged 30 or under. First prize ZAR230,000 (£12,000) Deadline 2 August; competition 24 January–5 February 2022 Web http://bitly.ws/dx7I

J.S. Bach Competition in Stony Brook, NY, US, for string players aged 16–30. First prize $5,000 Deadline 11 October; competition 1 December Web jsbachcompetition.org

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