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The winners of Germany's oldest classical music prize will be announced today at a concert in the concert hall of the Berlin University of the Arts. On 16 and 17 January 2009, the best students from Germany's music academies competed in Berlin for the "Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Prize", which is awarded annually by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in cooperation with Germany's state music academies. The prizes are awarded to: Michael Christensen and Chi-Hsien Kuan from the Hochschule für Musik Saar in the piano duo category and the Almandin Quartet(Meike Bertram, Anne Marie Harer, Karoline Markert, Katharina Kühl) from the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover in the string quartet category. The quartet was also awarded the "Chamber Music Prize of the Freunde Junger Musiker e.V.", which also opens up various performance opportunities.

The "Scholarship of the Federal President for the Promotion of Young Musicians" is also awarded as part of the competition. This year's recipients are Richard and Valentin Humburger from the Munich University of Music and Theatre (piano duo) and the Armida Quartet (Martin Funda, Johanna Eschenburg, Teresa Schwamm, Peter-Philipp Staemmler) from the Berlin University of the Arts. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation has awarded a grant to Susan and Sarah Wang from the Rostock University of Music and Theatre (piano duo) and to the Athlos Quartet (Noah Bendix-Balgley, Hed Yaron-Mayersohn, Benedikt Schneider, Sarah Wiederhold) from the Munich University of Music and Theatre.

At today's final concert (tickets are no longer available), the prizewinners will perform works by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, György Ligeti, Ludwig van Beethoven and Maurice Ravel.

The Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Prize was established in 1878 by the Prussian state in the form of a scholarship "for the training of talented and ambitious musicians". It was the ideal counterpart to the donation of the composer's music manuscripts and archive by his heirs to the Royal Library, now the Berlin State Library. The Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation honoured this commitment to the Mendelssohn family and resumed the tradition of awarding the prize in 1963. The prize is awarded in two annually changing musical subjects. Further information can be found on the website of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition.

Events organised by the Foundation to mark the 200th anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's birth

To mark the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn's birth on 3 February 2009, the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin is honouring the life and work of the composer with an exhibition of music autographs, letters and testimonies of Mendelssohn Bartholdy from its holdings, one of the world's most extensive collections on the subject. The Mendelssohn Archive, which was founded in 1964 by Hugo von Mendelssohn Bartholdy, the composer's great-grandson, and has recently been expanded, is affiliated to the music department of the State Library. As a central collection centre for the Mendelssohn family, it contains numerous family letters, a library of the works of the progenitor Moses Mendelssohn and documents from the hands of the composer and his sister Fanny Hensel. "FELIX. The exhibition on the 200th birthday of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" will open with a concert on 29 January 2009 at 6 pm in the Otto-Braun-Saal of the State Library (Potsdamer Straße 33, 10785 Berlin-Tiergarten). The Mendelssohn Prize winners of 2006, the duo Julian Arp and Caspar Frantz (violoncello / piano), will perform. Exhibition dates: 30 January-14 March 2009; Mon-Sat 11am-7pm, Thu 11am-2pm, Sunday 15 February, 4pm-2pm. Free admission. Further information on the website of the Berlin State Library.

The first half of 2009 will also be dedicated to the 200th anniversary of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's birth at the Museum of Musical Instruments, which is also part of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation: together with the Staatsbibliothek and the Mendelssohn-Gesellschaft Berlin, the museum is organising a symposium on 21 February to discuss questions about the sound, instruments and music-making of Mendelssohn Bartholdy's works. In addition, three concerts in the Early Music Live series are dedicated to the composer:

22. 2. 2009: The piano with its 100,000 nodules. Piano music for two and four hands by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy. Mijoo Lee and Klaus Hellwig. Concert tickets: 10 euros / reduced 6 euros.

15. 3. 2009: German-Japanese matinee. Students of the Elisabeth University Hiroshima, singing class Kazuko Ogura, and the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music, singing class Renate Faltin. Free admission.

21. 6. 2009: Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Johann Benjamin Gross. Two contemporaries from Berlin on their 200th birthdays. Christophe Coin (violoncello) and Yoko Kaneko (fortepiano). Concert tickets: 10 euros / reduced 6 euros. Musical Instrument Museum, Tiergartenstr. 1 (entrance Ben-Gurion-Straße).

Further information on the website of the Musical Instrument Museum.

The winners of the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Competition 2009:

Piano duo Christensen/ Kuan: Michael Christensen, born in the USA in 1980, received piano lessons from Ivan Shekov (1988-1992) and Jürgen Jakob (1992-2000). He is currently studying to become a soloist with Kristin Merscher at the Saarland University of Music. He has already completed a postgraduate course in jazz clarinet. He holds a concert diploma in piano and a diploma in music education, has won numerous prizes at the national competition "Jugend musiziert" (including several first prizes), as well as the main prize at the Gieseking Competition (2003) and a special Skriabin prize at the international piano competition "Opus-Yvelines" in France. Chi-Hsien Kuan was born in Taiwan in 1980. After graduating from the National College of Arts in Taiwan, she studied in Würzburg with Karl Betz (2000-2006). After completing her artistic diploma and concert diploma, she began training as a soloist with Kristin Merscher at the Musikhochschule Saarbrücken. She won first prize at the Taipei National Piano Competition and was also awarded a special Beethoven prize at the international piano competition "Opus Yvelines". She has performed both as a soloist and as a chamber musician in Slovenia, Taiwan and Germany.

The Almandin Quartet was founded in 2001 by four young female students from the Hanover University of Music and Theatre. The quartet has already won numerous prizes, including first prize at the Charles Hennen Concours in Heerlen (Holland) in April 2005, the special prize of the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth in November 2005 and the Prätorius Music Prize of the state of Lower Saxony. The musicians have taken part in various national and international festivals and have given concerts in Finland, Turkey, Belgium, Italy and France, at the North German Radio, at the Braunschweig Classix Festival, at the Weiden Max Reger Days and with the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra. The quartet has been a scholarship holder of the Rhineland-Palatinate "Villa Musica" Foundation since 2005 and was a member of the European Chamber Music Academy in 2006. In 2008, it was awarded the Bruno Frey Music Prize by the State Academy for Young Musicians in Baden-Württemberg. Meike Bertram (1st violin) was born in Gifhorn in 1984. She began piano lessons at the age of five and her first violin lessons at the age of six. She was a junior student at the Hanover University of Music and Theatre from 2001-2003 and began her studies there with Ulf Schneider in 2003/2004. She successfully took part in the "Jugend musiziert" competition between 1992 and 2002, won numerous first prizes at regional and state level and was a multiple first prize winner at national level. She was concertmaster of the Niedersächsisches Jugendsinfonieorchester (NJO), a member of the Bundesjugendorchester (BJO) and the European Youth Orchestra (EUYO). She studied at the Mannes College of Music in New York with Mark Steinberg from 2005 to 2006 and was awarded a scholarship by the Richard Wagner Foundation in 2003. Anne Marie Harer (2nd violin), born in Northeim in 1983, has been studying at the Hanover University of Music and Theatre with Ulf Schneider (violin), Anne Röhrig (baroque violin) and Stefan Möhle (recorder) since 2003. She won the 1st national prize in various categories at "Jugend musiziert". This was followed by a first prize at the international "Charles Hennen Concours" in Holland, NDR and SWR recordings, solo concerts with orchestras and various appearances at festivals in Germany and abroad. She plays in several baroque orchestras throughout Germany, has been concertmaster in various orchestras and has been a trainee with the NDR Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Hanover since 2006. In 2006/07 she studied with Gésa Kapás in Budapest, Hungary, on an Erasmus/Socrates scholarship. In 2007, she was honoured with the Social Prize of the University of Hanover for her extraordinary commitment as a representative for foreigners. Since October 2008, she has been the second violinist of the Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra. Born in Hildesheim in 1984, Karoline Markert switched from the violin to the viola at the age of 15. She has been a student of Barbara Westphal in Lübeck since 2003, with an interruption for an Erasmus year in Paris at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique with Jean Sulem. She was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and has been a trainee with the NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg since 2008. She has gained further orchestral experience in the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the Hanover Radio Philharmonic and the Youth Sound Forum Middle of Europe, among others. Cellist Katharina Kühl (born 1984 in Hildesheim) became a junior student at the Hanover University of Music and Theatre with Christiane Aydintan in 2001. She was successful several times in the "Jugend Musiziert" competition. She has been studying at the University of Music and Theatre in Hamburg with Bernhard Gmelin since 2003. In February 2005, she was engaged at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg as a cellist in performances of the play "Die Jungfrau von Orleans". From 2005-2007 she was a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie (also as solo cellist). In June 2006 and July 2007 she won second prize in the Elise Meyer Foundation competition in Hamburg. She has been a scholarship holder of the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation since April 2005 and a trainee in the NDR Symphony Orchestra since December 2007.

Piano duo Richard and Valentin Humburger
Born in 1979, the twin brothers Richard and Valentin Humburger have been enthusiastic about playing four-handed on one or two pianos since childhood. They are now regular guests on renowned European concert stages, including the Rheingau Music Festival, Mozartfest Würzburg, Schwetzinger Festspiele, Mozartwoche in Mannheim and the Ascoli Piceno Festival (Italy). Concert engagements have taken them throughout Germany, to Austria, France, the Czech Republic, Russia, Norway and Italy. They have won prizes at two of the world's most prestigious piano duo competitions: in 2008 they won 3rd prize at the 11th Murray Dranoff International Two-Piano Competition in Miami, Florida, as well as the special prize for the best interpretation of a work by Max Reger. At the 54th ARD International Music Competition in 2005, they won the special prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned composition, a "Capriccio on 2 pianos" by Mauricio Kagel, and premiered it at the Prinzregententheater in Munich (live broadcast by Bayerischer Rundfunk). They are scholarship holders of the Baden-Württemberg Art Foundation, the International Franz Schubert Competition in the Czech Republic and the Torneo Internazionale di Musica in Italy. They have made radio and CD recordings. They completed their musical training with Ulrich Meining, Rudolf Meister and Ok Hi Lee in Mannheim. Since 2007 they have been studying in Munich in the masterclass of Yaara Tal and Andreas Groethuysen. The piano duo also gained important experience and inspiration at numerous masterclasses, in particular with Andras Schiff, Alfons Kontarsky and György Kurtag.

The Armida Quartet was founded by young students from the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin and the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) in summer 2006. Since 2006, they have been studying in the chamber music class of the Artemis Quartet at the UdK Berlin and have also worked with artists such as Tabea Zimmermann, Lars Anders Tomter, Martin Spangenberg, Hariolf Schlichtig and Heime Müller. Since February 2008, the quartet has been supported by the organisation "Live Music Now" and regularly gives concerts there. In 2008, the ensemble won 1st prize in the "Alice Samter Competition" at the Berlin University of the Arts. In November 2008, they received a scholarship from the Kamar Percy and Ingeborg John Foundation. Martin Funda (1st violin), born in Gera in 1985, attended the Schloss Belvedere Music High School (Weimar) from 1999-2005 and was taught by Anne Lindig at the Franz Liszt School of Music in Weimar. He has won several national prizes in the "Jugend musiziert" competition in chamber music and solo competitions and is a scholarship holder of the Thuringian Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts. Solo and chamber music performances have taken him to many European countries, Asia and South America. He gained further musical inspiration in masterclasses with Stephan Picard, Siegfried Palm, Thomas Brandis, Antje Weithaas and Norbert Brainin, Tabea Zimmermann and Donald Weilerstein, among others. Since 2005 he has been studying at the University of the Arts with Nora Chastain and since 2006 with the Armida Quartet with Eckhard Runge (Artemis Quartet). He received a scholarship from the Paul Hindemith Society Berlin in 2007, was a member of the European Union Orchestra and is currently a member of the Gustav Mahler Orchestra. He is also concertmaster of the University Orchestra of the Berlin University of the Arts and a member of the soloist ensemble Kaleidoskop. Johanna Eschenburg (2nd violin), born in 1987, received lessons as a junior student from Johannes Kittel at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin. She began her violin studies there with Stephan Picard in 2007 and won first prize in the 2005 national competition "Jugend musiziert" and the Oberstdorf Music Summer 2007 prize for young talent. She has performed as a soloist with the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie, the Brandenburg State Orchestra and the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. Concert activities as a member of the Deutsche Streicherphilharmonie, the Stuttgart Festival Ensemble, the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Chamber Orchestra and intensive involvement with chamber music as well as lessons with Eberhard Feltz, Georg Faust, Jana Kuss, Eckart Runge, Natalia Prischepenko (Artemis Quartet) and Tabea Zimmermann round off her artistic profile. Teresa Schwamm (viola), born in 1988, has been studying with Jorge Sutil (Munich Philharmonic Orchestra) since 2001. In 2005, she began her studies at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in Berlin. She has won numerous 1st prizes at the national competition "Jugend musiziert", the 1st interpretation prize at the "Hanns Eisler" competition for contemporary music in 2006, a diploma at the 4th International Music Competition for Young People in 2007 and 1st prize at the chamber music competition "Alice Samter" in 2008. She has performed as a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra and as principal violist in the German National Youth Orchestra and has been a substitute with the Berliner Philharmoniker since 2008. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Bayreuth with the Hof Symphony Orchestra, at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, with the Swabian Youth Symphony Orchestra and the German National Youth Orchestra under Gerd Albrecht. She has been a scholarship holder of the Christa and Werner Strohmayr Foundation since 2005 and of the "Live Music Now" organisation since 2008. Born in 1986, cellist Peter-Philipp Staemmler was a junior student at the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar from 2000-2005. In 2005, he began studying cello at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin and in 2006 began studying chamber music at the Berlin University of the Arts with the Artemis Quartet. He completed masterclasses with Natalia Gutman and Anner Bylsma. He has won numerous prizes and awards at competitions, including 2nd prize at the Concours de Genève 2008, 2nd prize at the Hanns Eisler Prize for the Interpretation of Contemporary Music 2008, and was twice special prize winner at the cello competition for new music at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart 2007. He is a scholarship holder of the German Music Competition 2007, was included in the 52nd Federal Selection of Concerts by Young Artists and received the Gerd Bucerius Scholarship from the German Foundation for Musical Life in 2008. He has performed (partly as a soloist) with various orchestras from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, including Saschko Gawriloff, Priya Mitchell and Hariolf Schlichting. He is principal cellist in the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and has played there since 2006 under conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, Myung-Whun Chung and Philippe Jordan and has also been principal cellist in the Bamberg New Chamber Orchestra since 2006. As the winner of the 16th competition of the German Musical Instrument Fund of the German Foundation for Musical Life, he plays an instrument by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume.

Piano duo Susan and Sarah Wang
The twin sisters were born in Ridgewood, New Jersey (USA) in 1983. They began playing the piano at the age of seven at the Manhattan School of Music Preparatory Division with Dmitry Rachmanov. In 2007, they obtained their master's degree in the class of Marc Silverman at the Manhattan School of Music. They are currently receiving artistic training at the Rostock University of Music and Theatre with Hans-Peter and Volker Stenzl. In 2008 they won 2nd prize in the prestigious "Murray Dranoff International Two Piano Competition". They also came second in the Ellis National Duo Competition in 2003 and first in the Concerto Competition at the University of Michigan in 2004. They made their piano duo debut in December 1998 at the Cooper Union, New York, and have given concerts at home and abroad.

The Athlos Quartet: Noah Bendix-Balgley (1st violin), born in 1984 in Asheville, North Carolina, studied at the Indiana University School of Music and since 2006 in Christoph Poppen's master class at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich. He has received various prizes. He has performed as a chamber musician in China, Iceland and at the Max-Reger-Tage in Weiden and has taken part in many international festivals. His teachers have included Itzhak Perlman, Donald Weilerstein, Janos Starker and Joseph Silverstein. In solo masterclasses he has played for Ida Haendel, Gidon Kremer, Zakhar Bron, Ana Chumachenko, Gyorgy Pauk, and Pamela Frank. In his spare time he composes and plays klezmer music (performances with Brave Old World). He plays a violin by Lorenzo Ventapane from the early 19th century. Hed Yaron-Mayersohn, (2nd violin), born in 1989, is a graduate of the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem. He has received various scholarships and prizes: at the Jerusalem Academy Competition (2008, first prize), the Turjeman Competition (2005, first prize), the ISA Janacek Competition in Austria (2006, first prize), and the Israeli Lions Competition (2008, second prize). Since 2008 he has been studying in Ana Chumachenko's master class at the Munich University of Music and Theatre. Violist Benedikt Schneider, born in 1982, has been studying with Hariolf Schlichtig in Munich since 2006 (in the masterclass since October 2008). At the same time, he began postgraduate studies in chamber music with the Oberon Quartet. He won the international viola competition "Alessandro Rolla" in Maastricht in 2006 and the competition of the Walter Witte Viola Foundation in Düsseldorf in 2008. At masterclasses and various festivals, he has received tuition from renowned personalities such as Nobuko Imai, Itzhak Perlman, Ana Chumachenco, Donald Weilerstein, Tatjana Masurenko, Paul Katz and Rainer Moog. Cellist Sarah Wiederhold (born 1986) has been studying with Wen-Sinn Yang at the Munich University of Music since 2005 and receives chamber music lessons from Michael Schäfer, Friedemann Berger, Mi-Kyung Lee and Hariolf Schlichtig. She has played several solo concerts and attended various masterclasses. She has given chamber music concerts with the Vogler Quartet, Hariolf Schlichtig, Ingolf Turban, Gitti Pirner and Wolfgang Boettcher. Recently, the Munich Academy of Music loaned her an Italian Ceruti violoncello.