Competition Catch-up: Russians & Ukrainians Centerstage

With Russia and Ukraine in the news on a daily basis, their respective artists have been especially visible on the competitions circuit, not least at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, where a Russian and a Ukrainian took second and third prizes, respectively. Within a few days of the Cliburn’s end, Ukrainian pianist Illia Ovcharenko won the 10th New York International Piano Competition (NYIPC) on June 24 in Manhattan. The 21-year-old native of Chernihiv, who studies at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, receives $20,000 and concert appearances. In March he finished second at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.

Tong-Il Han chaired a jury that included Lydia Artymiw, Jane Coop, Ian Hobson, Janet Lopinski, and John O’Conor.

Russian Pianist Wins Birmingham Competition

In the Russian win column, Maxim Kinasov, a Moscow native now living in Manchester, U.K., won the Birmingham Piano Competition on July 3. He received £3,000 plus an unspecified recital engagement. The second through fourth prizes were awarded to Gabriele Sutkute, from Lithuania, Yuxuan Zhao, from China, and Clara Siegle, of Ireland and Germany. They received £1,500, £750, and £500, respectively.

A jury comprised of Martino Tirimo, Philip Edward Fisher, and Carole Presland adjudicated the event at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.

At Belvedere, Prizes to American and Ukrainian

American countertenor Key’mon Murrah prevailed over 119 other finalists to win first prize at the International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, held June 4-11 in Jurmala, Latvia. The Kentucky native receives €7,000. Ukrainian bass-baritone Nikita Ivasechko won the €3,500 second prize while Rueben Mbonambi from South Africa placed third, winning €2,500.

The 12-member jury included Melissa Wegner (Metropolitan Opera Lindemann program chief), Christina Scheppelmann (Seattle Opera), Christoph Seuferle (Deutsche Oper Berlin),  and Christoph Meyer (Deutsche Oper am Rhein). Open to singers born between 1990 and 2004, the event held qualifying rounds in 70 cities worldwide.

Russian Tenor Clinches Top Prizes at Dutch Competition

The 55th International Vocal Competition of the City of ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands concluded on July 2 by awarding its grand prize and opera prize to Andrei Danilov, a Russian tenor who lives in Berlin. The two awards are worth €7,500 each. Danilov also captured the press prize, valued at €1,000.

Czech mezzo-soprano Bella Adamova received the Toonkunst Oratorio Prize, worth €7,500, while the Wagner Prize of the Netherlands, valued at €5,000, was given to Portuguese soprano Sílvia Sequeira. Other awards are listed on the event’s website and each of the final rounds are archived on YouTube.

The jury: Linda Finnie, Charlotte Margiono, Vesselina Kasarova, Leonardo Capalbo, John Fulljames, Damià Carbonell Nicolau, Paul McNamara, and Gabriele Donà.

A Prize-worthy Violinist

Hilary Hahn has joined an august group of laureates in receiving the Music Institute of Chicago’s annual Dushkin Award, so named for the school’s founders, Dorothy and David Dushkin. Established in 1985, the award honors artists and composers who have shown a deep commitment to education. Yo-Yo Ma, Deborah Rutter, Riccardo Muti, Stephen Sondheim, Lang Lang and others of such status are past recipients.

In its citation, the Institute mentions Hahn’s current artist residency with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and her three Grammy awards, then describes how she “melds expressive musicality and technical expertise with a diverse repertoire guided by artistic curiosity. Her barrier-breaking attitude towards classical music and her commitment to sharing her experiences with a global community have made her a fan favorite. Hahn is a prolific recording artist and commissioner of new works, and her 21 feature recordings have received every critical prize in the international press.”

Ukrainian Conductor Receives Portuguese Prize

Oksana Lyniv, founder and artistic director of the Ukraine Youth Symphony Orchestra, was awarded the 2022 Helena Vaz da Silva Award by the Centro Nacional de Cultura, a Portuguese cultural heritage foundation based in Lisbon.

Lyniv, 44, is general music director at the Teatro Communal in Bologna, Italy, and artistic director of the LivMozArt International Classical Music Festival, which takes place in Lviv, Ukraine. The Helena Vaz da Silva Award annually recognizes a European citizen who is dedicated to promoting Europe's cultural heritage.

Russians Dominate in Putin-Sponsored Rachmaninoff Competition

Several of Vladimir Putin’s ardent supporters, including Valery Gergiev, Denis Matsuev, and Yuri Bashmet, plus some government ministers, organized the Rachmaninoff International Competition for Pianists, Composers and Conductors, which concluded on June 27 at the Moscow Conservatory.

Most of the finalists hailed from either Russia or China, though a small handful traveled from further afield, including the UK-based Yuanfan Yang, who took first prize in the composition category for his solo piano piece Petite Partita and his Piano Concerto No. 3.

First prizes in the piano division went to Alexander Klyuchko and Ivan Bessonov, both from Russia, while first prizes in conducting were awarded to the Russians Philipp Selivanov and Gurgen Petrosyan. The top three prize amounts were $30,000, $20,000, and $10,000; a full list of winners is posted on the event’s website.

The three juries, chaired by Gergiev (conducting), Matsuev (piano) and Alexander Tchaikovsky (composition) were mostly filled by Russian musicians. The winning performers appeared with Mariinsky Orchestra and the Novaya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra.

Pint-Sized Violinists Compete in Il Piccolo

Edna Unseld, an 11-year-old Swiss violinist, on July 10 won first prize in the Il Piccolo Violino Magico Competition, held in San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy. She receives €5,000, a Fabio Piagentini violin, and concert opportunities.

A student at the Musikschule Konservatorium Zürich, Unseld already has multiple competition wins under her belt, including third prize at the International Leonid Kogan Competition in Brussels, and a victory at the Swiss National Competition this past April. Her parents are violinists and her older sister is a pianist.

Second prize was a three-way tie among Mark Chia, of Singapore, Sofia Demetriades, from the UK, and Juan José Peña Aguirre, of Switzerland/Colombia. Third prize was awarded to Elisabeth Kira Koch, of Germany.

Il Piccolo is open to violinists ages nine to 13 years old. The jury was comprised of Pavel Vernikov (chair), Aleksey Igudesman, Min Lee, Ruta Lipinaityte, Jacobs Soelberg, Elisa Citterio, Svetlana Makarova, and Eduard Wulfson.

Chinese Pianist Wins Japanese Competition

The Sendai Music International Competition's piano division awarded first prize on June 26 to Jiaqing Luo, a Chinese pianist who studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. The 22-year-old pianist receives JPY 3,000,000 ($28,850). Second prize of JPY 2,000,000 ($19,000) went to Jonas Aumiller, 23, from Germany, while third prize of JPY 1,000,000 ($9,600) was awarded to Shion Ota from Japan.

There were 42 contestants competing in Sendai, though 11 withdrew for unspecified reasons. Finalists performed with the Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra. Ichiro Nodaira chaired an international jury that included Jacques Rouvier and Ebi Akiko (vice chairs). Videos of the competition rounds are archived online.

Armenian Wins Polish Vocal Competition

Armenian soprano Juliana Grigoryan won the €15,000 grand prize at the 11th Moniuszko Vocal Competition, which concluded on June 11 in Warsaw. First prize (€10,000), was awarded to South African soprano Nombulelo Yende (younger sister of Pretty Yende), second prize (€8,000) went to Croatian soprano Darija Auguštan, and third prize (€6,000) was delivered to Ukrainian soprano Yulia Zasimova.

There was no top prize for male singers. Second prize (€8,000) was a tie between Polish baritone Szymon Mechlinski and Ukrainian bass Volodymyr Tyshkov, and third prize (€6,000) was given to Mexican tenor Rafael Alejandro del Ángel García.

Opera magazine editor John Allison chaired a 14-member jury that included Ewa Podles, Peter Mario Katona, and Mariusz Kwiecien. The competition is organized by the Polish National Opera.

Announcements and deadlines

The Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition said on Tuesday that it is calling off its final round in Shanghai next month, due to the pandemic and its continuing disruption of travel. The six finalists, who were chosen through an online round in 2021, will instead receive certificates and a scholarship of $20,000 to be used towards education and career development.

The competition will also stream performances by the six finalists — Rino Yoshimoto (Japan), Thomas Lefort (France), Ruifeng Lin (China), Felicitas Schiffner (Germany), Angela Sin Ying Chan (Hong Kong, China), and Shannon Lee (United States) — on its social media channels (Aug. 26-28). The competition was originally scheduled for 2020, then postponed to 2021. In recent days, the threat of new lockdowns has loomed over China’s commercial hub as the BA.5 variant spreads.

Applications for the Isang Yun Competition for cellists are being accepted through July 31. Scheduled to take place Oct. 29 to Nov. 6, in Tongyeong, South Korea, the event features a first prize of KRW 30,000,000 (US $26,525). Applicants must have been born between November 1, 1991 and October 31, 2007. No application fee is listed.

And the deadline for the 2023 International Mozart Competition Salzburg, which will feature heats for string quartet and voice, is Sept. 16. The competition is scheduled for Feb. 3-16, 2023, at the Mozarteum University Salzburg. First prizes are €20,000 (quartets) and €15,000 (singers). Application fee is €150.