34 young musicians won valuable stringed instruments at the 32nd German Musical Instrument Fund Competition from 21 to 23 February
The German Musical Instrument Fund has announced the winners of its competition, which was held from 21 to 23 February 2025 in Lübeck. Of the 44 young musicians who auditioned, 34 were loaned a valuable violin, viola or cello from the collection, while six musicians successfully extended the loan period of their instrument.
Among the instruments up for grabs this year were violins by Stradivari (1703) and Guadagnini (1772 and 1769), as well as two cellos by Vuillaume (1874 and 1750) and one by Rogeri (ca. 1670-1689), plus violins by contemporary master makers such as Stefan Peter Greiner, Philippe Augustin and Haiko Seifert.
The 2025 prizewinners included 26-year-old violinist Victoria Wong, who won a 1772 Guadagnini violin. Maxim Tzekov from Austria received the 1769 Guadagnini ’Kingman’ while the 1703 Stradivari violin went to Tsukushi Sasaki (b.2000).
15-year-old cellist Oscar Benjamin Hollmer was awarded a cello by Lorenzo & Thomaso Carcassi (Florence ca.1768). Felix Brunnenkant from Munich received the Dr. Alexander Sikorski scholarship for a talented cellist for the second time .
Hartmut Rohde chaired the competition’s jury, which comprised Sophia Jaffé, Tobias Feldmann, Tanja Tetzlaff and Niklas Schmidt.
Rohde commented on the level of this year’s competition: ’We heard many young artists who have already demonstrated a very high level of playing. I am delighted that we can help these young people to further develop their musical potential by loaning them outstanding instruments from the German Musical Instrument Fund.
’Some of them will certainly follow in the footsteps of great artistic personalities - many of whom were themselves scholarship holders of the German Music Life Foundation. These violins, violas and cellos can be inspirations, companions and helpers.’
Bettina Bermbach, managing director of the German Foundation for Music Life (Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben) commented: ’For young musicians in training, an outstanding instrument with which they can work on their sound is enormously important.
’We are happy that we can support our scholarship holders with instruments from the German Musical Instrument Fund.’
A full list of competition winners can be found here.
Read: Winners announced for the 2025 International Heifetz Competition for Violinists
Read: 58th Premio Paganini International Violin Competition announces admitted candidates
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