Prize winners announced in the 10th International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists

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The 10th International Louis Spohr Competition for Young Violinists has awarded prizes to nine musicians after two days of finals at the Belvedere Music School, Weimar.

The competition, in partnership with the University of Music Franz Liszt, was split into three age-dependent categories.

The first category saw finalists aged 13 and under perform Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major KV 216. First prize and €1,750 went to eleven-year-old Finnish violinist Lilja Haatainen; second prize and €1,250 to twelve-year-old Ukrainian Margarita Pochebut; and third prize and €1,000 to ten-year-old Austrian violinist Laura Jin.

In the second category, violinists between the age of 14 and 16 performed Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor. 14-year-old American violinist Anton Carus received first prize and €2,500; 16-year-old Latvian violinist Elza Siliņa took second and €1,750; and 15-year-old Lily Sullivan from America took third prize and €1,250. 

The final category was won by 21-year-old Alexandra Weissbecker from Germany along with €3,500; ahead of 17-year-old Moë Dierstein from Freiburg who took second prize and €2,500; and 18-year-old Polish violinist Hanna Pozorska came third and received €1,500. All three performed Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor. 

The final performances were accompanied by the orchestra of the University of Music Franz Liszt under the baton of Nicolás Pasquet. 

Tonight (4 November), the finalists will perform in a prize winners’ concert at Weimar Hall. Each violinist will perform the concerto from their category final accompanied by the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra with Nicolás Pasquet. 

This year’s competition saw 50 violinists from over 20 countries compete in the event.