Category: Music Competition

Browsing: Music Competition

Photo: Antoine Saito

Newswire | Godwin Friesen is OSM Competition’s Grand Prize winner

By Newswire on 12 November 2022 Music Competition, Newswire

Montreal, November 12, 2022 ▪ The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is thrilled to announce the name of the 2022 OSM Competition’s Grand Prize winner: Godwin Friesen. He wins the Barbara Bronfman Prize ($20,000) named in memory of Barbara Bronfman – a lover of music and dear patron of the OSM. This 83rd edition dedicated to the piano was held from November 8 to 12, bringing together Canada’s most talented young artists, and representing tomorrow’s rising generation of professional musical performers. After two virtual editions, the OSM Competition made a grand return to the concert hall! Also, for the first time, the orchestra…

Newswire | Canadian Kevin Chen Wins 76th Geneva Competition in Piano

By Newswire on 9 November 2022 Music Competition, Newswire, Piano

PRIZEWINNERS OF THE 76th CONCOURS DE GENÈVE The 76th Concours de Genève ended last Thursday with a spectacular Piano Final at Victoria Hall in Geneva, Switzerland, with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Maržena Diakun. We are pleased to present the winners of this year’s edition, dedicated to piano and composition: PIANO PRIZEWINNERS FIRST PTRIZE Kevin Chen (17 years old, Canada) SECOND PRIZE Sergey Belyavsky (28 years old, Russia) THIRD PRIZE EX AEQUO Kaoruko Igarashi (28 years old, Japan) Zijian Wei (24 years old, China) COMPOSITION PRIZEWINNERS FIRST PRIZE Shin Kim, 27 years old, South Korea For his…

Competition Guide

By La Scena Musicale on 8 October 2022 Music Competition

The Azrieli Music Prizes 2 St. Clair Avenue West, Suite 900; Toronto, ON M4V 1L5 Tel: 416-322-5928 x326 [email protected] azrielifoundation.org/amp Dates�: October 2024 Application deadline�: May 5, 2023 Age requirement: Open to all ages Discipline�: Composers The Azrieli Music Prizes offer opportunities for the discovery, creation, performance and celebration of excellence in music composition by awarding four prize packages each valued at $200,000 CAD: Azrieli Commission for Canadian Music, Azrieli Commission for Jewish Music, Azrieli Commission for International Music, and Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music. (Dates can be modified) BADER AND OVERTON CANADIAN Piano COMPETITION and Festival Isabel Bader Centre…

Isidore String Quartet, 2022 BISQC

By Bill Rankin on 2 October 2022 Chamber Music, Classical Music, Music Competition

The Isidore, none of whose members is older than 23, has only been together since 2021 before winning the Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) on Sept. 4. The Juilliard students did play together a little in 2019, before the pandemic, but violist Devin Moore said at first there was little chemistry. The musicians were still focused on their individual career directions. String quartets were not yet a priority. “We were the right people at the wrong time,” said Moore. “But when we decided to try it again, everything sort of clicked.” In the summer of 2021, the four players…

Rose Naggar-Tremblay, Contralto, 2021 OSM Competition, Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques

By Eva Stone-Barney on 2 October 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Vocal

Although she is still but poised on the precipice of a career full of promise, contralto Rose Naggar-Tremblay has been charming audiences for many years. The Montreal native began her musical studies at 12 years old, and went on to receive a degree in vocal performance from McGill before joining the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal in 2017, where she sang the role of Zora in their 2018 Opus Prize-winning production of Ana Sokolovic’s Svadba, as well as Getrude Stein in Twenty-Seven, and Gabrielle in the première of La nuit est ma femme. More recently, her work as an…

Matthew Cairns, Tenor, 2022 Met Opera Auditions

By Gianmarco Segato on 2 October 2022 Art Song, Classical Music, Music Competition, Opera, Vocal

Tenor Matthew Cairns’s star has been rising for a few years now, but his promise was given the ultimate seal of approval when he became one of the winners of the prestigious Metropolitan Opera Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition this past spring. When asked to share the secret of his success, Cairns said: “I think you need to sing what you feel most comfortable singing, and what is also a popular piece. The audience loves an aria that is full of emotion and drama. Ultimately you need to show the audience who you are, and the right aria will do…

Marie Nadeau-Tremblay, Violin, Opus Discovery Prize

By Marie-Claire Fafard-Blais on 2 October 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Strings, Violin

In the three years since graduating from McGill, Marie Nadeau-Tremblay is well on her way to success, as shown by a pair of distinctions she netted recently: first Radio-Canada’s revelations prize in 2021 and now the Opus Discovery prize. Add to these a number of prizes and bursaries previously received, and it all points to one fact: she is off to an impressive start. Music has been in her blood from the day she picked up a violin at age 4. But now she dedicates herself solely to its baroque counterpart, a switch she made upon discovering the instrument after…

Simone McIntosh, Mezzo-Soprano, 2022 CMIM Aria Division

By Eva Stone-Barney on 2 October 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Vocal

Canadian mezzo-soprano Simone McIntosh has no shortage of impressive accolades under her belt already. The Vancouver native is a graduate of both UBC and the Schulich School of Music, where she was awarded the prestigious Wirth Vocal Prize. She recalls the moment following her Wirth Prize and COC victories, saying: “I sat down and said, I can do this.” And she certainly could! McIntosh went on to participate in both the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio program, as well as the San Francisco Opera’s Adler Fellowship program. This year, McIntosh will relocate to Zurich, where she will be a member…

Meredith Wohlgemuth, Soprano, 2022 CMIM Art Song Division

By Adrian Rodriguez on 2 October 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Vocal

La Scena discovered American soprano Meredith Wohlgemuth’s crystalline soprano and soaring high notes when our panel prepared our predictions for the CMIM 2022 (see the April/May 2022 issue). We predicted that she would win first prize in the Art Song division. Fast-forward to June 2022, when Wohlgemuth was clearly the jury’s unanimous choice for First Prize in the Art Song Division as well as the Joseph Rouleau Career Development Grant ($50,000), Normand Beauchamp Winner’s Tour Grant ($15,000) and the French Mélodie Art Song Award with her duo partner, Jinhee Park who took home the $5,000 John Newmark Prize for Best…

Yunchan Lim, Piano, 2022 Cliburn Piano Competition

By Paul E. Robinson on 2 October 2022 Classical Music, Music Competition, Piano

This past June in Fort Worth, Tex., 18-year-old Yunchan Lim became the youngest person to ever win gold at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. His performance of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 during the final round was remarkable by any standard and convinced the members of the jury that he deserved the highest award. But it is likely that he had already separated himself from the other contestants with stunning performances of Liszt’s monumental Transcendental Études and Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 2. Yunchan Lim was born in Siheung, South Korea, and began piano lessons at the age of 7.…