Music Competition - my/maSCENA

Wilhelm Magner, Viola, 2022 Prix d’Europe

By Robert Rowat on 2 October 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Strings

For the first time in its 111-year existence, the Prix d’Europe was awarded to a violist in 2022. “This was quite an accomplishment for me,” said Wilhelm Magner, whose prize comes with $50,000. “It would not have been possible without the support of my teacher at McGill, André Roy, during the past three years.” Magner is heading to Yale University this fall, to begin his master’s in Ettore Causa’s viola studio. Like many violists, Magner began playing violin. “As a child, I first wanted to play the flute, but after watching Fiddler on the Roof, I decided I had to play…

Vivian Kukiel, Violin, 2022 Canadian Music Competition’s Stepping Stone

By Robert Rowat on 2 October 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Strings, Violin

Toronto’s Vivian Kukiel first appeared on our radar in 2018 when she won the Ilona Fehér International Violin Competition in Budapest, Hungary. Her comet re-entered our skies in June when she won the Canadian Music Competition’s Stepping Stone final—“one of the most exciting but also nerve-racking experiences of my musical journey so far,” she said. “When (executive and artistic director) Marc David announced that I had won the whole competition, I was so overjoyed I think I went into a state of shock.” One month earlier, Kukiel and the other three members of the Holt Quartet recorded Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quartet…

David Potvin, Piano, 2022 Eckhardt-Gramatté Competition

By Zenith Wolfe on 2 October 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Piano

In the contemporary Eckhardt-Gramatté competition, a competitor’s repertoire must consist of works made no sooner than the 1950s, at least half of them composed by Canadians. So when young pianist David Potvin played exclusively Canadian music, his exceptional effort tying the repertoire together did not go unnoticed by the judges, who awarded him the first-place prize from among six finalists. “I tried to pick a program of contrasting works but present them in an order where they complemented each other well,” Potvin said. “There’s so much wonderful Canadian piano music so I thought, why not? I think I got just as…

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko, Piano, 2022 Santander, Hilton Head and Maria Canals Competitions

By Zenith Wolfe on 2 October 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Piano

Young pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko is on a hot streak in 2022! Only months after receiving First Prize at the Hilton Head (March) and Maria Canals (April) competitions, he took home the gold two more times at the Shean (May) and Santander (August) competitions. To the award-winning pianist, competitions are exhausting, especially when hosted back-to-back. The lengthy practice and rehearsal processes are hard enough, but each time he gets on stage he has to make a conscious effort to calm himself down, since he finds competitions more nerve-racking than normal performances. “I always treat each competition round like a performance,” he…

Newswire | Detailed Schedule of the 2022 Cliburn Amateur Competition Announced

By Newswire on 30 September 2022 Music Competition, Newswire

FORT WORTH, Texas, September 29, 2022—The eighth edition of the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition, for non-professional pianists age 35 and older, begins two weeks from yesterday and will run from October 12 to 18, 2022, in Fort Worth, Texas at Van Cliburn Recital Hall (300 E. 4th Street) and Bass Performance Hall (4th & Calhoun Streets). Announced today are the order of play for the Preliminary Round and the full roster of free festival events that are open to the public. Full details are below. “We are so pleased to finally be able to welcome these outstanding pianists—who have been preparing for this moment for…

CIOC Organ Festival 2022 : Jean-Willy Kunz Pulls Out All Stops

By Hassan Laghcha on 30 September 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition

Running through October, the Canadian International Organ Competition (CIOC) offers a dozen or so performances spread out over six different church venues. Not only is the program quite varied in terms of styles but so are its participants, including a handful of noteworthy names. The event’s artistic director Jean-Willy Kunz (pictured below) and his team have granted spots to many rising talents playing in a range of musical settings, both acoustic and electronic, with a view of attracting audiences of differing musical tastes. One good example of its eclectic programming, as Kunz points out, is the Bach-Mobile, an organ mounted on…

Newswire | American Isidore String Quartet Wins 2022 Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC)

By Newswire on 5 September 2022 Music Competition, Newswire

September 4th, 2022 – BANFF, AB – In an extremely difficult jury decision, the Isidore Quartet from the USA comprised of Phoenix Avalon (violin), Adrian Steele (violin), Devin Moore (viola) and Joshua McClendon (cello), have won one of the most coveted prizes in chamber music at the 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. The first-place quartet took the top prize at the end of seven days of competition in a field of nine quartets from around the world. Throughout the week, each of the competing quartets performed programs that they created…

During the Awards Gala. From left to right: Marcel Tadokoro, Xiaolu Zang and Jaeden Izik-Dzurko. Third, Second and First Prize, respectively (Credit: Elena Torcida)

Industry News

By Zenith Wolfe on 2 September 2022 Arts Industry, Classical Music, Music Competition

Awards/Competitions Santander Piano Competition First Prize: Jaeden Izik-Dzurko (Canada) Second Prize: Xiaolu Zang (China) Third Prize: Marcel Tadokoro (France/Japan) Verbier Festival Academy Yves Paternot (First) Prize: Bryan Cheng (Canada) Jean-Nicolas Firmenich Prize: Stéphanie Huang (Belgium) Tabor Foundation Award: Giovanni Bertolazzi (Italy), Misi Boros (Hungary) Thierry Mermod Prize: Sofie Lund (Denmark), Dennis Chmelensky (Germany), Celine Mun (South Korea) IPPA Conero International Piano Festival – Professional Artists Category (Age 18-32) First Prize: Absent Second Prize: Anfisa Bobylova (Ukraine) Third Prize: Yuefeng Liu (China) German Music Competition Solo Winner (Clarinet): Lyuta Kobayashi (Germany) Solo Winner (Organ): Aurel Dawidiuk (Germany) Solo Winner (Violin): Anne…

Newswire | CMIM Violin 2023: Applications Are Open

By Newswire on 24 August 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Newswire, Violin

Montreal, August 25, 2022– The Concours musical international de Montréal (CMIM) announces the opening of applications for its upcoming violin edition, taking place from April 22 to May 4, 2023. Young violinists from around the world, born between January 1, 1993, and December 31, 2006, are invited to apply before November 15, 2022 on the CMIM website at concoursmontreal.ca/en/violin-2023. Eligibility criteria, terms and conditions, and the required repertoire are also available. Following the preliminary international screening on video, 24 violinists will be invited to participate in the first round in front of the public in Montreal and live online across…

Banner image for the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition website

Newswire | 2022 Cliburn Amateur Competition: Details, Changes Announced, Tickets on Sale

By Newswire on 11 August 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Newswire, Piano

Fort Worth, Texas (August 11, 2022) —The Cliburn announces today the new details of the eighth edition of the Cliburn International Amateur Piano Competition, for non-professional pianists age 35 and older. Originally scheduled for May 2020 and postponed due to the pandemic, the Amateur Competition will now take place October 12–18, 2022, in Fort Worth, Texas. Below are the key elements, many altered due to the rescheduling. “We are so pleased to finally be able to welcome these outstanding pianists—who have been preparing for this moment for many years now—to Fort Worth,” said Jacques Marquis, Cliburn president and CEO. “The week will be memorable as…

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