Compete with the best: Five days of violin and piano trio competition
Press release from 08/25/2021
The best students in violin and piano trio will compete in the 2021 Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition. The musicians will present their skills to the top-class jury of Germany's oldest competition for young talent in classical music from 11 to 15 September 2021 in Berlin.
The participants compete for the coveted awards, prize money totalling over 20,000 euros and the production of a CD recording. Among the prizes is the "Prize of the Federal President", the only cash prize awarded by the Federal President in the field of music. The violinist Tanja Becker-Bender chairs the jury for the violin category. Paul Rivinius will chair the jury for the piano trio category. The competitions and the finalists' concert can be attended free of charge and will also be available for the first time as a live stream at www.fmbhw.de. The prizewinners' concert at Konzerthaus Berlin will also be streamed live.
With over 40 violinists and 16 piano trios registered, the number of applications for the upcoming competition is exceptionally high. Sebastian Nordmann, Artistic Director of the competition and Director of the Konzerthaus Berlin, comments: "Especially in these months of the pandemic with few performances, auditions or competitions, it is very important to the organisers to offer young musicians motivation. The high number of registrations in both competition subjects shows the unbridled euphoria for this competition on the part of the students. I am sure that together we can provide an important building block for consistency in musical life."
As every year, the programme will also feature two commissioned works: Helena Winkelman (violin solo) and Vito Žuraj (piano trio) composed the pieces, which will be performed by all participants in their respective disciplines. The composition by Helena Winkelman was funded by the Mendelssohn-Gesellschaft e. V., Berlin. This funding will be awarded annually until 2029 under the title "Fanny Hensel Prize", preferably to a renowned female composer. The Artistic Director of the competition decides on the award.
The patron of the competition is Gewandhauskapellmeister Andris Nelsons. The competition is organised by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, the Rectors' Conference of German Music Universities and the Berlin University of the Arts.
Press enquiries
Claudia Assmann
Tel. (030) 3185 2456
presse@fmb-hochschulwettbewerb.de
www.fmb-hochschulwettbewerb.de