The world’s best young violinists can apply for one of the 35 invitations to the 2006 Hannover International Violin Competition. The Foundation of Lower Saxony (Stiftung Niedersachsen) is presenting the competition for the sixth time October 1st – 14th, 2006. With cash awards of over 80,000 Euros, the competition is among the world’s largest and most generous. The Foundation’s co-operation partners for the competition are the University of Music and Drama Hannover, the Northern German Broadcasting Association and the Lower Saxony State Orchestra of Hannover.
Invitations will be extended to the 35 outstanding violinists chosen by an Invitations Jury in July 2006. This year, video material will be used in the selection process for the first time. Competitors from 15 countries performed at the last competition. The First Prize Winner was Nemanja Radulovic, who has been delighting concert audiences worldwide ever since. He will be performing Kachaturian’s violin concerto at the opening concert of the 2006 competition.
The members of the 2006 International Jury are: Thomas Brandis (Germany), Edward Grach (Russia), Ida Haendel (UK), Klaus Heymann (Germany/ Hong Kong), Nam Yun Kim (Korea), Silvia Marcovici (Romania/France), Tomotada Soh (Japan), Pavel Vernikov (Israel/Italy), Donald Weilerstein (USA), Hans-Christian Wille (Germany) and the competition’s Artistic Director Krzysztof Wegrzyn (Poland/Germany). Wegrzyn summed up the competition’s philosophy: „We are looking for artistic personalities who have more than just technical expertise to offer. We want to thrill the audiences in Hannover in 2006 once again.“
The competition is itself part of a comprehensive music program presented by the Foundation of Lower Saxony. It includes the »Musikalisches Collegium« for Old and New Music, the »Audience Academy« that prepares audiences for the competition concerts, the concert tour »The Competition in the Countryside« and the school program »The Competition in the Classroom«.