2 mins
COMPETITIONS
Viatores Quartet
Hilary Hahn
Julia Hagen
1 Brazilian violinist Nathan Amaral, 28, has won the $50,000 first prize at the Sphinx Competition’s senior division in Detroit, MI, US. Second prize of $20,000 and the $5,000 audience prize went to US bassist Aaron Olguin, 29, and US violinist Bethlehem Kelley, 22, won third prize of $10,000. In the junior division, US violinist Ana Isabella España received the $10,000 first prize and concert engagements, US violinist Rebecca Beato took the second prize and $5,000, while US cellist Sonya Moomaw won the $3,000 third prize.
2 The Viatores Quartet has received the €6,000 first prize at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition in Berlin, Germany. The quartet comprises violinists Louisa Staples, 23, and Patricio Velásquez Cárdenas, 28, violist Kwan Hon Gordon Lau, 24, and cellist Umut Sağlam, 25. The Nerida Quartet won the €4,000 second prize, while third prize of €2,000 was shared between the Eden and Sapphō quartets.
3 US violinist Hilary Hahn has received the Avery Fisher Prize of $100,000 for outstanding artistic achievement and leadership in classical music. The award was conferred at the David Geffen Hall in the Lincoln Center, NY, US, following Hahn’s performance of Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto no.1 with the New York Philharmonic. Hahn previously won the prize in 1995 aged 15.
4 Austrian cellist Julia Hagen, 28, has won the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award, receiving CHF75,000 (£68,400) and a solo performance with the Vienna Philharmonic. The award recognises young musical figures for extraordinary achievements, and has previously been won by Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Sol Gabetta, Vilde Frang and Kian Soltani.
APPOINTMENTS
• Dutch–Swiss cellist Anton Spronk has been named solo cellist of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
• South Korean violinist Jin Suk ‘Jason’ Yu has been appointed as the assistant principal second violin of the Cleveland Orchestra
• Violist Wenting Kang and cellist Julie Albers have been appointed to the New England Conservatory faculty, beginning in autumn 2024
• The Berkshire Bach Society has announced violinist Eugene Drucker as its new artistic director
FORTHCOMING COMPETITIONS & AWARDS
Joseph Joachim Violin Competition in Hannover, Germany, for violinists aged 18–34. First prize €30,000. Deadline 31 March; competition 15–28 September Web jjv-hannover.de/en
Princess Astrid International Music Competition in Trondheim, Norway, for violinists under 30. First prize NOK160,000 (£11,700). Deadline 5 April; competition 9–12 September Web tso.no/competition
Beethoven’s Hradec in Opava, Czech Republic, for violinists aged 30 and under. First prize CZK80,000 (£2,800). Deadline 10 April; competition 12–16 June Web beethovenuvhradec.cz/en
For current vacancies, see our online jobs page at www.thestrad.com/jobs
HAGEN PHOTO SIMON PAULY. VIATORES QUARTET PHOTO DENIZ TUNÇER. HAHN PHOTO O.J. SLAUGHTER