The triennial Leopold Mozart Competition in Augsburg, Germany, has named the three finalists of its 10th edition, taking place in the 300th year since Leopold Mozart’s birth.
The finalists are:
- Joshua Brown (USA)
- Karisa Chiu (USA)
- Kaoru Oe (Japan)
A special prize for the best performance in the semi-finals of of the Trio no.1, in D minor op.49 by Felix Mendelssohn (1st movement) went to Simon Wiener (Switzerland).
Founded in 1987, the triennial competition is named after Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s father, Leopold, who was born in Augsburg and remains an important figure in violin pedagogy chiefly through his Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing.
Open to international violinists aged 15-30, the competition, which this year runs from 31 May to 8 June 2019, offers cash prizes of €20,000, €12,000 and €9,000 to its top three winners, as well as a CD recording and a broad selection of performance invitations.
It is the first competition under the directorship of violinist Linus Roth, who made some major changes to its regulations, including that current and former students of jurors and the artistic director are excluded from the competition, and that chamber music is now an element.
The 2019 jury comprises: Benjamin Schmid (Chairman), Friedemann Eichhorn, Liza Ferschtman, Sabine Frank, John Gilhooly, Ulf Hoelscher, Danjulo Ishizaka, Nils Mönkemeyer, Christian Poltéra, Marco Rizzi, Erik Schumann, Remy Franck, Jens F. Laurson and Anna Picard.
Past winners include Benjamin Schmid, Lena Neudauer and Isabelle Faust, who was awarded 1st prize in the competition’s very first year.
The final takes place on Friday 7 June at 5pm local time, and will be streamed at the link below
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