2 mins
COMPETITIONS
1 Maria Ioudenitch
3 Seiji Okamoto
4 Yo-Yo Ma
IOUDENITCH PHOTO NISSOR ABDURAZAKOV. OKAMOTO PHOTO JUN TAKUMI. MA PHOTO JASON BELL
1 US violinist Maria Ioudenitch, 25, has been awarded first prize and CHF20,000 (£16,000) at the Tibor Varga International Violin Competition in Sion, Switzerland. She also won the Audience Prize and Youth Jury Prize, receiving an extra CHF500 for each. Ioudenitch is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music. The second prize, worth CHF10,000, was awarded to German violinist Tassilo Probst, 19, while third prize and CHF5,000 went to 20-year-old Lorenz Karls, from Sweden, who also received the Tibor Varga Prize.
2 The French Confluence Quartet has taken home the €15,000 first prize at the Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition. The quartet consists of violinists Charlotte Saluste-Bridoux and Lorraine Campet, violist Pierre-Antoine Codron and cellist Tom Almerge-Zerillo, all born between 1992 and 1997. Second prize (€10,000) went to the Novo Quartet (Denmark/Poland) and third prize (€5,000) to the Animato Quartet (Norway/Netherlands).
3 Japanese violinist Seiji Okamoto, 27, has won the €10,000 first prize in the ARD International Music Competition’s violin category. Okamoto is a graduate of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin and now studies at the Kronberg Academy. Second prize (€7,500) went to Dmitry Smirnov, 28, from Russia, and third (€5,000) to Alexandra Tirsu, 29, from Moldova/Romania.
4 American cellist Yo-Yo Ma has been named the Praemium Imperiale laureate for music, which is awarded annually by the Japan Art Association. The award comes with JPY15 million (£100,000). Ma was recognised for his career achievements and commitment to the arts in the global community, as well as his collaborations with musicians from a variety of musical genres and traditions.
FORTHCOMING COMPETITIONS & AWARDS
The ‘Chamber Classic’ International Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel, for piano trios with a combined age not exceeding 120 years. First prize €30,000 Deadline 10 March 2022; competition 23 May–1 June 2022 Web www.chamberclassic.com
Kodály International Music Competition in Debrecen, Hungary, for violinists, violists and cellists aged 18–30. First prize €15,000 Deadline 16 December 2021; competition 17–26 June 2022
Web
www.kodalycompetition.com
Nomea Competition online, for violinists aged 6–35. First prize €3,000 Deadline 10 December 2021; winners announced January 2022
Web
www.nomeacompetition.com
APPOINTMENTS
• German cellist Valentino Worlitzsch has been named the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester’s first principal cellist
• Russian violinist Rimma Benyumova has been appointed concertmaster of the Staatskapelle Berlin as of the 2021–22 season
• German–US Alexander Edelmann takes up his new role as principal double bass of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in October
• Violinists Benjamin Marquise Gilmore and Laia Valentin Braun are the new violinists of the Navarra Quartet
For current vacancies, see our online jobs page at www.thestrad.com/jobs