Nathan Amaral receives $50,000 and solo concert engagements with major orchestras
Read more news stories here
Brazilian violinist Nathan Amaral, 28, has won the senior division of the Sphinx Competition’s 27th edition. The final took place at the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center in Detroit, Michigan on 27 January. Amaral receives the $50,000 Robert Frederick Smith Prize and solo performances with major orchestras. In his finals performance he played the first movement of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s Violin Concerto in G minor alongside the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra.
The $20,000 second prize was awarded to US bassist Aaron Olguin, 29, who also won the audience prize, worth $5,000. US violinist Bethlehem Kelley, 22, won the $10,000 third prize. Olguin performed the third movement of Andrés Martín’s Concerto for Double Bass, while Kelley performed the first movement of the Coleridge-Taylor Violin Concerto. All finalists, as well as semi-finalists, will also receive scholarships and fine instruments through the Sphinx Music Assistance Fund.
Amaral, originally from Rio de Janeiro, currently studies at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston with Donald Weilerstein. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in venues such at Wigmore Hall, the Berlin Philharmonie and the Grosser Saal Mozarteum. Other competition successes include at the Weimar International Competition, the Paul Roczek Award at the Mozarteum Salzburg, and the Wiener Klassik Preis. He also recently released his debut album with Decca Classics.
The 2024 jury comprised Joseph Conyers, Randall Goosby, Alasdair Tait, George Taylor, Elena Urioste, Seth Parker Woods and John Zion.
Read: Ana Isabella España wins the Sphinx Competition junior division
Read: Sphinx Organization: Change for good
Read more news stories here
The number one source for playing and teaching books, guides, CDs, calendars and back issues of the magazine.
In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.
The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.
American collector David L. Fulton amassed one of the 20th century’s finest collections of stringed instruments. This year’s calendar pays tribute to some of these priceless treasures, including Yehudi Menuhin’s celebrated ‘Lord Wilton’ Guarneri, the Carlo Bergonzi once played by Fritz Kreisler, and four instruments by Antonio Stradivari.
No comments yet