Following two exciting evenings of final rounds at the Northern German Broadcasting Corporation’s Lower Saxony Broadcasting Center, the decision was reached late tonight on the three laureates of the Sixth Hannover International Violin Competition. The six finalists’ masterly performances were weighed by the eleven-member international jury which chose the 18-year-old Korean violinist Suyoen Kim from Germany as First Prize winner.
She captured the jury’s vote with Brahm’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D major op. 77, winning a 30,000 Euro cash award, a NAXOS CD production and a personal DVD production which includes her performances during the Hannover competition. Furthermore the Fritz Behrens Foundation Hannover will provide her with a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin (Parma, ca. 1765) on loan for three years. In addition, the Foundation of Lower Saxony (Stiftung Niedersachsen), as presenter of the competition, will be securing appearances for the winner with renowned orchestras and ensembles.
The Second Prize went to the Korean Hyun-Su Shin, who will be awarded 20,000 Euros. The 10,000 Euro Third Prize went to Kana Sugimura from Japan.
The awards ceremony takes place on Saturday, October 14th, starting at 7:30 p.m. The Gala Concert live broadcast begins at 8 p.m. on NDR Kultur radio. For the first time, a 1,000 Euro audience award will be presented to the artist favored by those present at both final concerts. The result will be posted after the concert at www.violin-competition.de.
Linda Anne Engelhardt, the Executive Director of the Hannover International Violin Competition, looks back at this year’s competition with great enthusiasm: »The last two weeks were simply fantastic. We heard excellent performances of the highest quality. Once again, a program that promotes young talents became a moving experience for the wonderful audiences that packed the concert halls – and watched us on the internet.«
The Artistic Director and initiator of the Competition, Krzysztof Wegrzyn, stressed: »This competition enables the participants to gain valuable concert experience, to introduce themselves to an international audience and to engage in important networking. The jury has chosen three wonderful artists as laureates who are sure to make their mark in international music circles.«
The next Hannover International Violin Competition will be presented by the Foundation of Lower Saxony (Stiftung Niedersachsen) from 27 September to 10 October 2009.
The Hannover International Violin Competition has been presented triennially since 1991 by the Foundation of Lower Saxony in cooperation with the University of Music and Drama Hannover, the Hannover State Opera of Lower Saxony and the Northern German Broadcasting Corporation.
The Hannover International Violin Competition awards cash prizes of over 80,000 Euros. This makes it one of the world’s most generous competitions of its kind. The competition is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions in Geneva.
Media queries can be directed to Timo Ayumi Dörrie at +49-511-2887910 or doerrie@dievision.de.