The First Prize was not awarded at this edition.
Vikram Sedona (Italy, 18 years old) is the winner of the second prize in the Violin Section of the “George Enescu” International Competition, 2018 edition. The third place was occupied by Giuseppe Gibboni (Italy, 17 years old). The third finalist, Ukrainian Orest Smovzh (27 years old) received a special award consisting of a series of Masterclasses offered by Silvia Marcovici and Mihaela Martin.
The first prize was not awarded at this edition, by decision of the President of the Jury, Pierre Amoyal.
Vikram Sedona also received two special awards: the invitation to give a concert in Lisbon, at the festival whose musical director is conductor Christoph Poppen, who led the “George Enescu” Philharmonic Orchestra on the night of the final, and another special invitation from one of the members of the jury, Eduard Schmieder.
President of the Jury Pierre Amoyal presented the results of the selection, mentioning the fact that, aside from the three finalists, 48 other talented contestants have been part of the competition, and all of them have shown great potential. The President of the Jury considered he had the responsibility to maintain this balance in relation to all contestants, so he decided that the first prize would not be awarded at this edition.
“We have enjoyed an exceptional evening, expressive contestants, with good mature technique at a very early age. We have seen innate talent and their potential. The President of the Jury has the supreme authority and he wished to highlight the fact that, aside from an exceptional gift, more persistence is still needed to valorize talent. Musicians are made throughout their lives, and the decision he made tonight will bring home this message for all contestants”, says Mihai Constantinescu, Director of “George Enescu” International Competition and Festival.
The specialized jury of the Violin Section formed of: Pierre Amoyal, (President of the Jury), Salvatore Accardo, Agustin Leon Ara, Remus Azoiței, Silvia Marcovici, Eduard Schmieder, Viktor Tretyakov, Pavel Vernikov, Krzysztof Wegrzyn.
Having already performed in Italy, Austria, Malta, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Russia and France, Vikram Sedona (Italy) is currently studying at the University of Performing Arts in Graz. He is 18 years old, and he won the First Prize at the “Andrea Postacchini” International Violin Competition in 2017.
The third prize winner, Giuseppe Gibboni (Italy) was born on the 16th of May 2001 and plays a F. Landolfi violin, entrusted in 1751 to the Fondazione Pro Canale of Milan. He is known as the “Italian miracle”: he participated in the “Prodigies – Music is Life” Programme of RAI 1 in collaboration with UNICEF and recorded a CD with Warner Classics, which bears his name. Giuseppe Gibboni won First Prizes at the “L. Kogan” International Violin Competition in Brussels and “A. Postacchini”International Violin Competition, as well as First Prize and Special Prize for the Execution of the Paganini Caprices, in 2016.
Orest Smovzh (Ukraine), the contestant who did not climb the podium, is currently a Peabody Institute student. He has studied violin with his mother, with Prof. Nadiya Varyanko, as well as Mariya Futorska, Yaroslava Rivnyak, Dmytro Tkachenko, Qian Zhou. He graduated the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore. Orest Smovzh also participated in masterclasses with Vadim Repin, Ilya Gringolts, Ivry Gitlis, Gyorgy Takacs-Nagy, Nigel North, Bernard Lanskey, Pierre Amoyal, Nam Yun Kim, Petru Munteanu, Kszysztof Węgrzyn, Takashi Shimizu, David Takeno and Norman Fischer. He has performed on instruments by Guarneri del Gesù, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, Carlo Landolfi, Lorenzo Storioni and Stefan-Peter Greiner, loaned by late Mr. Rin Kei Mei and private collections. He was born on the 27th of March 1991 and is a winner of the “Tadeusz Wroński” Violin Solo Competition in 2015.
Between September 1 and 23, 270 young artists from 39 countries from all over the world are coming to Bucharest to give life to their dream of becoming great artists of the world, at the 2018 edition of the George Enescu International Competition.
Aged between 16 – the youngest contestant enrolled in the Competition – and 33 – the maximum permitted age, young musicians give recitals with some of the best-known works of the 20th century, but also by composer George Enescu. Contestants perform in front of the specialized jury, comprising great established musicians, and in front of the audience, in the three competition stages and at the Finals with Orchestra, in the three sections: Cello, Violin and Piano. In the Composition Section, the works will be assessed in their original format, sent by each contestant with their names kept secret until the end of the selection process.
Organized as a stand-alone event since the 2014 edition, “George Enescu” International Competition invites the audience to discover some of the most talented young artists today, great names of tomorrow’s classical music, and to follow and support their journey to the top: winning the competition. This year “George Enescu” International Competition celebrates 60 years after the first edition of the Competition.
For further details, please access: https://www.festivalenescu.ro
Contacts for the media:
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Translation provided by Biroul de Traduceri Champollion
