The Ilona Fehér International Violin Competition has concluded at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, Hungary. The competition was divided into two age groups: Group 1 for participants under 15 and Group 2 for those aged 15-22.
The Final Rounds are now available for replay on The Violin Channel.
Group 1 Prizes:
1st place: Constantin Stefan Cristian (Romania) – €2000
2nd place: Hana Hoshino (Japan) – €1250
3rd place: Kimia Corke (Switzerland) – €750
Group 2 Prizes:
1st place: Leonhard Baumgartner (Austria) – €2000
2nd place: Maksym Synytsky (Ukraine) – €1500
3rd place: Tao-Yuan Hsiao (Taiwan) – €1000
Special awards included the Youngest Competitor Special Prize, awarded to Lin Xi from China. The Best Bartók Duos Special Award went to Zhang Jinger (China) in Group 1 and Henry Jin Quan (United Kingdom) in Group 2.
The competition also featured awards for the best performance of contemporary pieces composed for the 80th anniversary of the Holocaust:
Matthew Balogh: A Lament of Rembrandt’s Jeremiah – Leonhard Baumgartner (Austria)
Bella Mate: The White Chaconne – Constantin Stefan Cristian (Romania)
Peter’s Tower: Stolperstein – Maksym Synytsky (Ukraine)
Shlomo Mintz: In Memory – Kimia Corke (Switzerland)
The jury, led by Shlomo Mintz, a former student of the renowned Hungarian-Israeli violin teacher Ilona Fehér, included Alissa Margulis, Andreas Vierziger, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Dora Schwarzberg, Keller András, Magdalena Ursu, Pauk György, Peter Herresthal, Qian Zhou, and Kelemen Barnabás.
Leonhard Baumgartner, born in Vienna in 2007, studies with Dora Schwarzberg at the University for Music and Performing Arts Vienna and with Ingolf Turban at the University for Music and Theatre Munich. He previously studied with Regina Brandstaetter at the University for Music Graz.
In August, Baumgartner will represent Austria in the Final of Eurovision Young Musicians in Bodø, Norway, after winning the national competition. In June 2022, he won the Wiener Symphoniker Talent Award and debuted as a soloist with the Wiener Symphoniker at Konzerthaus Vienna. He will also perform in the 2024/25 Musica Juventutis cycle and as a soloist with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra.
His other achievements include Second Prize at the Il Piccolo Violino Magico Competition 2021, First Prize at the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition, the Discovery Award of International Classical Music Awards 2023, First Prize at the Hong Kong International Music Competition 2022, and the Carl-Flesch Prize at the Carl Flesch Academy. Baumgartner plays a violin by J.B. Vuillaume, Paris 1854, generously loaned by a member of the Stretton Society.
