Hannover International Violin Competition

The Idea

Every three years, the Foundation of Lower Saxony invites young violinists from around the world to compete in the Hannover International Violin Competition. The Competition program demands extraordinary artistic ability, which is judged by a jury of esteemed personalities from the international world of music. The last competition took place September 27th - October 10th, 2009. You will find the competition website here.

The Hannover International Violin Competition is dedicated to Joseph Joachim and presented triennially by the Foundation in cooperation with the Hannover State Opera, the University of Music and Drama Hanover and the North German Broadcasting Corporation. Offering cash awards of 140,000 Euros, it is the most generous violin competition worldwide. The First Prize includes 50,000 Euros, a CD production with NAXOS, a photo session and the creation of an artist's website. Concerts with internationally renowned orchestras and ensembles complete the prize list. The First Prize Winner will also be provided with a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin by the Fritz-Behrens-Stiftung on loan for three years.

The Competition's comprehensive prize package is meant to assist and encourage talented young violinists in their professional development. The musical and personal contacts made in Hannover accompany them as they launch their solo careers.

In addition to the concerts, the competition program presents »Audience Academies« in which musicologists and artists discuss selected aspects of the competition repertoire. Another element of the program is the »Competition in the Countryside« series that reaches out beyond the capital city of Hannover. The school programm »The Competition in the Classroom« rounds up the competition's presentations. In between the competition years, the »Musikalisches Collegium« addresses the demand for more instruction in Old and New Music.

Memberships

World Federation of International Music Competitions Geneva.

The Organizing Committee

Management:
Lisa Gaupp

Artistic Director:
Krzysztof Wegrzyn

International Honors Committee

Claudio Abbado, Salvatore Accarda, George Alexander Albrecht, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Daniel Barenboim, Charles Beare, Kyung-Wha Chung, Lynn Harrell, Hans Werner Henze, Klaus Heymann, Gidon Kremer, Lee Lamont, Lorin Maazel, Wolfgang Marschner, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Igor Oistrach, Jasper Parrott, Krzysztof Penderecki, Hans Ulrich Schmid, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Vladimir Spivakov, Josef Suk, Waltraud Szeryng, Krystian Zimerman, Pinchas Zukerman

The Winners Since 1991

Scholarships were awarded in 1997 to
Shirabe Aoki, Felicitas Hofmeister, Sergei Levitin, Saeka Matsuyama, Marius Patyra, Thomas Timm

Scholarships were awarded in 2000 to
Nang Kim, Ky-Young Kim, Sergey Ostrovsky, Mikhail Ovrutsky, A-rah Shin, Alexander Trostiansky

The Finalists (in alphabetic order):
Keisuke Okasaki
A-rah Shin
So-Young Yoon

Scholarships were awarded in 2003 to
Jermolaj Albiker, Simone Lamsma, Linus Roth, Anna Maria Staskiewicz, Kana Sugimura and Nadezda Tokareva.

The Finalists (in alphabetic order):
Nikita Borisoglebskiy
Fanny Clamagirand
Zhijiong Wang.

Scholarships were awarded in 2006 to
Celeste Golden, Erin Keefe, Leticia Muñoz-Moreno, Jaroslaw Nadrzycki, Artiom Shishkov and Jung Yoon Yang.

Unranked Laureates (in alphabetic order):
Yusuke Hayashi
Hyuk Joo Kwun
Solenne Païdassi

Scholarships were awarded in 2009 to
David Coucheron, Yoo Jin Jang, Stephanie Jeong, Haik Kazazyan, Jung Yoon Yang and Itamar Zorman.

If you wish to obtain more information here is a special site for the Hannover International Violin Competition.