Mariam Abouzahra scooped first prize of €14,000 at the competition, which has not held a violin edition since 1988
The 74th edition of the Giovanni Battista Viotti International Competition was held from 12 to 20 October 2024 at the Civic Theatre of Vercelli, Italy. The competition rotates between opera, piano and violin disciplines, with this year’s edition being dedicated to the violin for the first time in 36 years.
The competition was open to violinists of all nationalities aged 33 and under, and comprised two initial rounds, semi-finals, finals and the prizewinners’ concert.
The final round consisted of three violinists: Lorenz Karls (Sweden/Austria, 23), Hyun Seo Kim (South Korea, 14) and Mariam Abouzahra (Germany, 16). They were selected from the initial cohort of 19 competitors, and each performed a violin concerto with the Milan Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Francesco Ommassini.
Abouzahra won first prize following her performance of the Brahms Violin Concerto. She won €14,000, as well as the Soroptimist Award dedicated to the most outstanding female candidate in this year’s competition.
Abouzahra is the youngest first prize winner in the history of the Viotti Competition, along with Domenico Nordio, who won in 1987. She is currently studying at the University of Music in Vienna with Dora Schwarzberg. As a soloist, Abouzahra has appeared with the Liszt Chamber Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Concerto Budapest, Philharmonie Baden-Baden and among others. She was invited to the 2024 Verbier Festival as junior soloist.
The youngest main prize winner in the competition’s history, Kim won second prize of €8,000, plus the audience prize of €1,000, while Karls took third prize of €5,000.
The two semi-finalists who did not progress to the finals, Ulisse Mazzon (Italy, 25) and Yinan Zhao (China, 26) each received €650.
The jury was chaired by Pietro Borgonovo, artistic director of the Competition, and comprised Pavel Berman, Roberto Cani, Michael Guttman, Silvia Marcovici, Gabriele Pieranunzi and Bogdan Zvoristeanu.
The Viotti International Music Competition was founded in 1950 as a multidisciplinary competition, with piano and opera categories in 1950 and 1951 respectively. The first violin competition was held in 1955 and was not held again until 1984, thereafter held annually until 1988. Previous violin laureates include Salvatore Accardo, Domenico Nordio and Reiko Watanabe.
The competition’s 2025 edition will be dedicated to opera, followed by piano in 2026, with violin resuming in 2027.
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