Maria Marica, age 24, won the 2022 George Enescu International Competition Violin Section after a Final in which she performed the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 by Johannes Brahms. The violinist also received a special award from the IMK Vienna Association, represented by jury member Igor Petrushevski: a concert as a soloist with the North Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 2023 in Prague. Maria Marica will perform, together with cellist Benjamin Kruithof – the winner of the cello section of the Enescu Competition, the Double Concerto in A minor for violin and cello, Op.102 by Johannes Brahms. The Violin Final of the Enescu Competition took place on Tuesday, September 13, at the Romanian Athenaeum. The Romanian Ștefan Aprodu and the French Grégoire Torossian were in the second and third places. The audience enthusiastically embraced the three orchestral concerts in which soloists performed some of the most beloved violin compositions in music history.
On Tuesday evening, Maria Marica from Romania won the First Prize of the Violin Section of the George Enescu International Competition 2022, at the end of a Final in which she performed the Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 by Johannes Brahms, accompanied by the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Wilson Hermanto. The jury also awarded the best foreign accompanist, a title that went to the Frenchman Aimo Pagin.
The Jury of the Violin Section at the 2022 edition of the George Enescu International Competition was formed by: Dmitry Sitkovetsky (President of the Jury), Remus Azoiței, David Grimal, Frank Huang, Simon James, Paul Kantor, Silvia Marcovici, Igor Petrushevski and Krzysztof Wegrzyn.
“First of all, I would like to thank the wonderful Bucharest audience that supported all the competitors in this competition with much warmth, love and enthusiasm”, said Dmitry Sitkovetsky, President of the Jury of the Violin Section, before announcing the result of the Final.
The first prize of the 2022 George Enescu International Competition is worth 15.000 euros, the second prize 10.000 euros, and the third prize 5.000 euros. Also, the winner of the 2022 Enescu Competition has the opportunity to perform in the 2023 and 2024 editions of the George Enescu International Festival and Competition, as well as in concerts organized during the Romanian Philharmonic seasons. The 2022 Enescu Competition trophies, given to the three young violinists, are made of glass and bear the signature of the artist Iulia Năstase.
Maria Marica, Romania, has been studying the violin since the age of seven and is currently tutored by David Grimal at the Saarbrücken University of Music. She gave recitals and concerts both in Romania and in France, Italy, Germany and the United States and is a laureate of several competitions in Romania. She has performed in chamber ensembles with renowned musicians such as Marc Coppey, Philippe Cassard, David Grimal, Frans Helmerson, Boris Brovtsyn, Sergey Malov, Victor Julien-Laferrière and Solenne Païdassi. She is a member of the Les Dissonances Ensemble and was also a member of the Romanian Youth Orchestra, with whom she had the chance to perform in concert halls such as Musikverein Vienna, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonic in Paris, Konzerthaus Berlin. Maria was supported in the past by the Constance et Andrei Rhoe Foundation and MOL Romania and is currently financially supported by a German state scholarship.
Ștefan Aprodu studies at the Dinu Lipatti Arts High School in Bucharest, with Prof. Magdalena Ursu and has already performed with several symphony orchestras and conductors (Ad Honorem Ivry Gitlis concert with David Stern at the lectern; Gabriel Bebeșelea – Junior Orchestra; Sabin Păuța – Camerata Royal, Yasuo Minami – Takasaki Youth Orchestra, Japan). He was recently awarded first prize at the Vasco Abadjiev International Violin Competition in Sofia, Bulgaria, and his portfolio also includes a number of international awards. He is also a passionate young composer, and since 2020 he has been participating in Dåsele Vådår Sevaidå’s online composition course at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. One of his compositions – Concert no. 3 in E minor for violin and orchestra – will be performed this autumn, with Ștefan Aprodu as soloist.
Grégoire Torossian was born in 2000 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Grégoire Torossian and started studying the violin at the age of 4. He worked in the early years with Maja Lazko in Paris, then at the Tours Conservatoire with Pierre Ivanovitch, where he obtained the Diploma of Musical Studies with unanimous approval from the jury. In 2018, he was admitted to the Conservatoire National Supérieure in Paris, in the class of Professor Ami Flammer, and graduated two years later with a bachelor’s degree. Currently, Grégoire is pursuing his master’s studies at the Paris Conservatoire, in the class of professors Svetlin Roussev and Pierre Colombet. In 2018, Grégoire Torossian won first prize at the Leonid Kogan Competition in Brussels. In chamber music, he performed with the Möbius Quartet at the French Spring Festival in Ukraine (July 2021) and at the Ozawa Academy in Switzerland (July 2022). He attended master classes with Sergey Khachatryan, Julia Fischer, Kirill Troussov, Sarah Nemțanu, Lewis Kaplan and Patrice Fontanarosa.
Ediția a XVIII-a a Concursului Internațional George Enescu are loc la București între 4 și 18 septembrie. În acest an, Concursul Internațional George Enescu marchează revenirea în sala de spectacol, după doi ani în care evenimentele culturale au fost nevoite să se reinventeze și să se mute parțial sau total în online. Mesajul pe care Concursul Enescu îl transmite în acest an este acela al redobândirii speranței: Muzica speranței | Music of Hope. La etapa online a Concursului s-au înscris peste 100 de tineri muzicieni din toată lumea. Dintre ei, 34 de artiști talentați vor avea ocazia să urce pe scena Ateneului Român, între 4 și 18 septembrie, în etapele de Semifinală și Finală la cele trei secțiuni interpretative: vioară, violoncel și pian.
The 18th edition of the George Enescu International Competition takes place in Bucharest between September 4 and 18. This year, the George Enescu International Competition marks the return to the theater, after two years in which cultural events had to reinvent themselves and move partially or totally online. The message that the Enescu Contest sends this year is that of regaining hope: Music of hope | Music of Hope. Over 100 young musicians from all over the world signed up for the online stage of the Contest. Among them, 34 talented artists will have the opportunity to take the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum, between September 4 and 18, in the Semi-Final and Final stages in the three interpretive sections: violin, cello and piano.
For more details, please visit: https://www.festivalenescu.ro
The official photographers of the Enescu 2022 Competition will make a series of live images from the events of the Competition available to the media free of charge. They can be accessed at this link. The official photographers of the Enescu 2022 Competition will make a series of live images from the events of the Competition available to the media free of charge. They can be accessed
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