Master bow from Luboš Odlas, viola case and 40,000 crowns. These prizes will be awarded to the winner of the Oskar Nedbal viola competition
The Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition knows its laureates. The Japanese-Dutch viola player Takehiro Konoe will take home the first prize from Prague.
(Takehiro Konoe)
The 4th grade ended yesterday Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition. This year again, it took place on the grounds of the Prague Conservatory. 70 violists from 24 countries under the age of 30 entered the competition. 1st round of the competition it was done in the form of video recordings, which the jury judged during the first 14 days of July. 14 violists from 10 countries advanced to the 2nd round – Yibo Cao (China), Oscar Edin (Sweden), Duleen van Gunsteren (Netherlands), Wenhan Jiang (China), Takehiro Konoe (Japan/Netherlands), Hwayoon Lee (South Korea) , Yat Lee (Hong Kong), Laura Liu (USA), Ilias-Ion Livieratos (Greece), Wilhelm Magner (Canada), Nicol Miekus (Poland), Kyungsik Shin (South Korea), Joseph Skerik (USA), Yuri Yoon ( South Korea).
In the second round the violists played the Sonata for viola and piano of any choice and the obligatory composition of the competition – Romantic piece op. 18 Oskar Nedbal. The official pianists of the competition, Libuše and Radim Pančoch, provided the piano accompaniment.
(Joseph Skerik)
Do 3rd round of the competition the jury selected these violists – Takehiro Konoe (Japan/Netherlands), Hwa Yoon Lee (South Korea), Kyungsik Shin (South Korea), Josef Škerík (USA). In the final of the competition, they performed accompanied by the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra under the direction of concert master Jakub Sedláček and played the Viola Concerto by C. Stamitz or FA Hoffmeister.
(Kyungsik Shin)
(Hwayoon Lee)
“We are very happy that even the two-year pandemic and the measures associated with it did not take away the motivation to work for young violists,” he says Kristina Fialová, leading Czech violist, director and founder of the competition and adds: “This year, for the first time, we had 3 rounds, the 1st round in the form of video recordings. A novelty of the competition was also the audience prize, which the listeners will decide on during the final of the competition.”
In addition to Kristina Fialová, the jury included other renowned violists and pedagogues: Tim Frederiksen (Denmark), Lars Anders Tomter (Norway), Jan Pěruška (Czech Republic) and Lech Antonio Uszynski (Poland/Switzerland).
In addition to financial prizes, the winners of the competition took home a master bow by Luboš Odlas, a Luthier viola case from the Gewa company, and material prizes from the Pirastro company. During the competition, last year’s laureate and winner of the 2nd prize, Swedish violist Ami-Louise Johnsson, performed a recital together with pianists Libuší Pančochová and Radim Pančochová.
The organization of the competition was made possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the State Cultural Fund, the City Hall. m of Prague, Prague 1 district, the Life of an Artist Foundation, the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation, the Antonín Dvořák Society and the Antonín Dvořák Foundation for Young Performers. The partner of the competition is the Prague Conservatory.
The final round took place on Sunday 3 October and these are the names of the successful laureates and holders of other prizes
- price Takehiro Konoe (Japan/Netherlands)
40,000 CZK, master bow from Luboš Odlas, GEWA Luthier viola case, 3 sets of Pirastro Perpetual strings and Pirastro rosin - price Kyungsik Shin (South Korea), 30,000 CZK, 2 sets of Pirastro Perpetual strings and Pirastro rosin
- price Joseph Skerik (USA), 20,000 CZK, 1 set of Pirastro Perpetual strings and Pirastro rosin
Winner of the competition Hwayoon Lee (South Korea)
Honorable Mention – Laura Liu (USA), Wilhelm Magner (Canada), Yibo Cao (China), Ilias-Ion Livieratos (Greece)
Price of publications Kyungsik Shin (South Korea)
prize for the best performance of the work of B. Martinů (15,000 CZK) Takehiro Konoe (Japan/Netherlands)
prize for the best performance of the work by O. Nedbal – Ilias-Ion Livieratos (Greece)
Pirastro prize Laura Liu (USA)
the prize of the director of the Prague Conservatory for the best Czech participant – Bohumil Bondarenko (Czech Republic)
On October 1, we offered a live telephone entry on Classic Saturday, in which the course of the competition was evaluated by the founder and director of the festival, Kristina Fialová
Photo: Ondřej Melecký