Chinese cellist Ziyang Zhao receives €10,000, concert engagements and $1,000 from the Janigro family
The final round of the 8th Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition concluded on 20 September at the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, Croatia. The competition is open to cellists of all nationalities up to the age of 33, and is held every four years. Finalists were accompanied by the Zagreb Philharmonic, conducted by Dawid Runtz.
The first prize of €10,000 was awarded to 15-year-old Chinese cellist Ziyang Zhao, along with a $1,000 cash prize from the Janigro family and further performance opportunities. The second and third prizes were respectively awarded to US cellist Ari Peraza-Webb, 19, and German cellist Till Schuler, 24, who both receive concert engagements with orchestras.
Zhao currently studies with professors Jiwu Li and Jian Wang at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music’s high school. She previously won the 2024 Ars Classica International Youth Competition in Italy and the 2023 Gustav Mahler Competition in Czechia, and has performed as a soloist with the Nanning and Shanxi Symphony Orchestras.
The competition was established in 1996 in memory of Italian cellist Antonio Janigro, who taught at the Zagreb Conservatory and is considered to have founded the school of modern cello playing in former Yugoslavia. This year’s competition jury comprised cellists Hans Jørgen Jensen, Martti Rousi, Nikola Ružević and Meehae Ryo, with former Janigro student Thomas Demenga as the president of the jury.
Read: Thomas Demenga on studying with Grimmer, Janigro, Rose and Rostropovich
Read: Joseph Joachim Violin Competition announces semi-finalists
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