Russian cellist Maria Zaitseva receives €10,000 and the audience prize

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The cello prizewinners, left to right: Alexander Warenberg, Maria Zaitseva, Krzysztof Michalski © facebook.com

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The cello division of the ARD International Music Competition concluded on 15 September in the Hercules Hall of the Munich Residence in Munich, Germany. The finalists were accompanied by the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Hankyeol Yoon.

The first prize of €10,000 was awarded to Russian cellist Maria Zaitseva, who also received the audience prize and the Munich Chamber Orchestra special prize. The second prize of €7,500 was won by Polish cellist Krzysztof Michalski, along with the special prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned work, and the third prize of €5,000 by Dutch cellist Alexander Warenberg. All three cellists received the Henle Urtext and GEWA special prizes.

Michalski also received the special prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned work, Élégie pour violoncelle et piano by Marc-André Dalbavie, which received its world premiere at the competition.

Zaitseva studied with Oleg Bugaev at the Gnessin Moscow Special School of Music and was the recipient of a scholarship from the Mstislav Rostropovich Foundation. She has been a prize-winner at competitions including the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition, the Svyatoslav Knushevitsky International Cello Competition, the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, and was a semi-finalist in the Geneva International Competition.

This year’s jury comprised Andrzej Bauer, Emmanuelle Bertrand, Natalie Clein, Maximilian Hornung, Xenia Jankovic, Jing Zhao, and was chaired by Frans Helmerson.

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