Austrian and Australian violinists took home the senior and junior category prizes respectively
The results of the Ysaÿe International Violin Competition have been announced. In the senior category, Austrian violinist (b.1999) Maria Sotriffer took home the €5,000 first prize. She also receives a one-year loan of a Guadagnini 1740s violin from Florian Leonhard Fine Violins and a concerto performance in the Smetana Hall in Prague, Czech Republic. Japanese violinist (b.2004) Yuki Hirano won the €2,000 second prize, while US-Finnish violinist Matthew Hakkarainen (b.2000) and Russian violinist Mariia Lundina (b.2000) tied for third place. Inga Rodina (b.2000), also from Russia, received the Ysaÿe Prize.
In the junior category, Australian violinist Jayda Lu (b.2011) won the €1,000 first prize, Hyunsuk Ryu (b.2013) from South Korea received the €700 second prize, while Chinese violinist Li Mingzhe (b.2012) was awarded the €300 third prize.
The finals took place in the Liège Philharmonic Hall in Liège, Belgium. Junior category contestants performed a recital including a study or caprice of free choice, and one virtuoso piece. The senior contestants were tasked with playing a first sonata movement from a list of assigned composers, the first movement from a selection of violin concertos, and one of Eugene Ysaÿe’s solo violin sonatas.
Born in Vienna, Maria Sotriffer studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Thomas Christian, Elisabeth Kropfitsch, Gerhard Schulz and Albena Danailova. She is currently studying with Svetlana Makarova at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne, Switzerland. She is also a laureate of the 2022 London International Concerto Competition, Singapore International Music Competition and Padova International Music Competition, among others. As a soloist she has played with orchestras such as the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava, Camerata Musica Vienna, and Beethoven Philharmonie Baden.
Lu studies with Robin Wilson at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. She is a laureate of the 2021 Melbourne International Piano and Strings Festival Competition, 2022 Zhuhai International Mozart Competition and 2023 Il Piccolo Violino Magico competition.
The 2024 jury comprised artistic director of the competition Ashot Khachatourian, Daniel Weissmann, Philippe Koch, Pavel Vernikov, Sunny Lee, Alexandre Feye, Guido Jardon, Hrachya Avanesyan, Julien Eberhardt and Philippe Lehaen.
Read: 11-year-old violinist wins the 2024 Piccolo Violino Magico competition
Read: Prizes awarded at the Ysaÿe International Music Competition
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