2 mins
COMPETITIONS
Affinity Quartet
Mio Imai
Christian McBride
AFFINITY QUARTET PHOTO JAMES GRANT. MIO IMAI PHOTO COURTESY IL PICCOLO VIOLINO MAGICO. MCBRIDE PHOTO EBRU YILDIZ
1 On 9 July the Affinity Quartet took home first prize and AUD30,000 (£15,800) at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition. The Madrid-based quartet comprises violinists Josephine Chung and Nicholas Waters, violist Ruby Shirres and cellist Mee Na Lojewski. They also won the AUD30,000 Robert Salzer Foundation String Quartet prize and the AUD8,000 Audience Prize. In the Piano Trio category, Trio Orelon (violinist Judith Stapf, cellist Arnau Rovira i Bascompte and pianist Marco Sanna) was awarded the AUD22,500 first prize, as well as the AUD3,000 Trio Commission Prize.
2 US violinist Mio Imai, 12, won first prize and €5,000 at Italy’s Il Piccolo Violino Magico competition in San Vito Tagliamento. She also won a violin by Italian maker Fabio Piagentini. The €3,000 second prize went to Yeonah Kim, 9, from South Korea, while the €3,000 third prize was split between Australian– British violinist Jayda Lu, 11, and Elizabeth Song, 13, from the US.
3 Ireland’s National Concert Hall has announced the winner of its 2023 bursaries, including the Young Musician Award for String Players. Both violinist Sarah Brazil, 15, and cellist Adam Joyce, 16, were awarded the latter. Brazil wins €6,000 while Joyce receives €4,000.
4 On 17 July, US jazz bassist and educator Christian McBride was awarded the Wigmore Medal. The award honours exceptional musicians with a close relationship with London’s Wigmore Hall, where McBride is an associate artist. During his career, McBride has won six Grammy Awards, recorded extensively, and become a respected educator.
FORTHCOMING COMPETITIONS & AWARDS
Luigi Nono International Chamber Music Competition in Turin, Italy, all string chamber groups with up to eight players aged between 15 and 33. First prize €2,000 Deadline 30 September; competition 20–22 October Web amiciperlamusica.com
Sphinx Competition in Detroit, MI, US, for black and Latinx string players aged 30 or under. First prize $50,000 Deadline 23 October; competition 24–27 2024 Web bitly.ws/PccX
Chicago International Violin Competition online, for violinists aged 7–28. First prize $5,000 Deadline 31 October; competition 19 November Web chicagoviolincompetition.org
APPOINTMENTS
• Slovakian violist Šimon Truszka has joined the Pavel Haas Quartet
• Midori will head the Ravinia Steans Music Institute’s piano and strings programme as of this autumn
• Emerson Quartet violinist Philip Setzer has been name artistic director of the Manchester Music Festival
• Tabea Zimmermann will return to the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts in Germany as professor of viola after a 20-year gap
For current vacancies, see our online jobs page at www.thestrad.com/jobs