More than 30 violinists competed for the 2022 Kloster Schöntal International Violin Competition, that was held in Kloster Schöntal (Baden-Württemberg), Germany, from August 27 – September 4, 2022.
In the final live round, candidates performed a violin concerto in front of an international jury of experts, including Cristina Goicea, Rebekka Hartmann, Axel Strauss, Michael Veimann, and Florian Leonhard. The Jury President is the competition’s founder Prof. Petru Munteanu.
The competition was split up into three age categories: up to 14-years-old, 15 to 17-years-old, and 18 to 21-years-old. The winners in each category include:
First Age Group (Up to 14-years-old):
1st prize: Lois Muntean – Romania
2nd prize: Philipp Chernomor – Germany, Yu Wa Ocean Chow – Hong Kong, Mathilda Dendorfer – Germany
3rd prize: Amina Akhmetzhanova – Kazakhstan
Special prize “Baroque”: Lois Muntean – Romania
Special prize “Sonata”: Mathilda Dendorfer – Germany
Special prize “Virtuoso”: Philipp Chernomor – Germany
Special prize “Gewa violin case”: Lois Muntean – Romania
Second Age Group (15 to 17-years-old):
1st prize: Tareq Matar – Germany
2nd prize: Moe Dierstein – Germany
3rd prize: Isabelle Raviol – Germany
4th Prize: Tokuji Miyasaka – USA
Sponsorship awards as a finalist: Ryota Nakamura – Japan, Anne Sophie Luong – Germany
Special prize “Bach”: Tareq Matar – Germany
Special prize “Sonata”: Moe Dierstein – Germany
Special prize “Virtuoso”: Tokuji Miyasaka – USA
Special prize “Gewa violin case”: Tareq Matar – Germany
Special prize “Masuratini” violin case”: Moe Dierstein – Germany
Third Age Group (18 to 21-years-old):
1st prize: Katharina Strepp – Germany
2nd prize: Sara Ispas – Australia
3rd prize: Pijus Cesaitis- Lithuania
4th prize: Aijia Li – PR China
5th Prize: Ashley Tsai – Canada, Elena Meyer – Germany
Special Prize “Bach”: Sara Ispas – Australia
Special prize “Sonata”: Pijus Cesaitis – Lithuania
Special prize “Virtuoso”: Katharina Strepp – Germany
Special prize “Gewa violin case”:Katharina Strepp – Germany
Special Prize “Masuratini Violin Case”: Sara Ispas – Australia
Special Prizes not linked to any age group:
Special prize “Italian VIOLIN” from the Leonhard company, London: Katharina Strepp – Germany
Reinhold Würth Advancement Award: Sara Ispas – Australia
Special prize Colla Parte(for chamber music performance), donated by Prof. Dr. Viorica Radoi: Pijus Cesaitis – Lithuania
Florian Leonhard’s special prize will provide an exclusive violin on loan for 2 years to Katharina Strepp. In addition, the Reinhold Würth Promotion Prize for further education in music, given to Sara Ispas, is worth € 5000 and an appearance as a soloist with the Würth Philharmonic Orchestra.
The patron of the competition, Prof. Dr. Reinhold Würth, together with the Würth Group and the Würth Foundation, supported the competition financially and offered some of the prize money. Further cash prizes were awarded on behalf of the company ebm-papst Mulfingen and Sparkasse Hohenlohekreis. Material prizes were donated by the companies GEWA, Masuratini, and Paganino. In total, cash and non-cash prizes of over 30,000 EUR were distributed.
Previous major prize winners include VC Artists InMo Yang, Sarah Christian, Yury Revich, Igor Pikayzen, Alexander Conunova, Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, Rennosuke Fukuda, Ziyu He, and Ioana Christina Goicea.
This year edition of the competition is part of the project B.R.A.N.D. NEW (Business, Relations, Audience, Narration, Digital for the NEW music world), which is co-funded by the European Union programme Creative Europe.
