No first prize was awarded in the violin category
The winners of the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition were this evening announced at a glittering ceremony in Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.
Winner of the cello category Gold Medal and a cash prize of $30,000 was Andrei Ionuț Ioniță (pictured). The 20-year-old Romanian, who was visibly shocked at his win, took first prize at the Aram Khachaturian International Competition in 2013, and second place at both the ARD International Music Competition in Munich and the Emanuel Feuermann Competition in Berlin last year.
The cello second prize and Silver Medal went to 27-year-old Alexander Ramm from Russia, who receives $20,000, while third prize and the Bronze Medal, worth $10,000, went to fellow Russian, 31-year-old Alexander Buzlov.
The remaining three cello finalists were ranked as follows: 24-year-old Pablo Ferrández-Castro from Spain, fourth place; Seung Min Kang from South Korea, fifth place; and 17-year-old Jonathan Roozeman from the Netherlands, sixth place.
No Gold Medal was awarded in the violin category. Second prize and the Silver Medal , worth $20,000, went to Taiwan’s Yu-Chien Tseng , 20-year-old winner of the Singapore International Violin Competition earlier this year.
The violin third prize and Bronze Medal, worth $10,000, was shared between three candidates: 26-year-old Alexandra Conunova from Moldova, winner of the 2012 International Josef Joachim Violin Competition in Hannover; Russia’s Haik Kazazyan, aged 32, who won the violin fourth prize in the 2002 Tchaikovsky Competition; and fellow Russian, 31-year-old Pavel Milyukov.
Fourth prize went to 28-year-old Clara-Jumi Kang from Germany, who five years ago won the 2010 Indianapolis International Violin Competition, while fifth prize went to South Korea’s Bomsori Kim, aged 25. Kang also took the special award for Best Performance of a Concerto with Chamber Orchestra.
The piano category was won by Dmitry Masleev from Russia, the male voice category by Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar from Mongolia and the female voice category by Yulia Matochkina from Russia.
The winner of the competition Grand Prix, worth $100,000 - based on the highest set of scores - was Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar.
Whittled down from 48 cellists and 48 violinists invited to take part in auditions in Moscow, this year’s six violin finalists performed the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and another concerto of their choice, while the cellists performed Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and another concerto of their choice.
On the violin judging panel were Yuri Bashmet, Maxim Vengerov, Leonidas Kavakos, Viktor Tretyakov, Vadim Repin, Boris Kushnir, James Ehnes, Salvatore Accardo, Liana Isakadze and Lucerne Festival artistic director Michael Haefliger.
On the cello panel were Lynn Harrell, Mischa Maisky, David Geringas, Alexander Knyazev and Carnegie Hall artistic director and former LSO cellist Clive Gillinson.
Held every four years, the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition took place in Moscow (violinists and pianists) and St Petersburg (cellists and singers).
The entire 2015 competition was broadcast live via Medici TV at Tch15.medici.tv.
For full details visit the Tchaikovsky Competition website.
Photo: Tchaikovsky Competition
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