Exceptional young violin talents can now apply for the 2024 Joseph Joachim Violin Competition

The application period for the 12th edition of the prestigious Joseph Joachim Violin Competition 2024 in Hanover has opened. The competition is looking for exceptional talents who play their instrument to perfection, aspire to an international career, engage creatively with concert life, and can inspire audiences at the highest level. Applications can be submitted until March 31, 2024 via the violin competition website at www.jjv-hannover.de/en. The Joseph Joachim Violin Competition will be held from September 16 to 28, 2024 in the Richard Jakoby Hall of the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media and in the Large broadcasting hall of the NDR Landesfunkhaus Hanover. The main prize "Joseph Joachim" is endowed with 30,000 euros. The three finalists will each receive 10,000 euros. There are also additional cash prizes, top-class concert engagements, the production and international distribution of a debut album, music vouchers and the loan of a valuable violin. The competition is organised by the Stiftung Niedersachsen. The artistic directors are Antje Weithaas and Oliver Wille.

Participation in the Joseph Joachim Violin Competition requires the performance of a challenging repertoire. To apply, a piece by Béla Bartók and a work by Franz Schubert must be played and submitted as a video recording. Concertmasters and section leaders from the partner orchestra, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, have been recruited for the pre-selection jury. Out of all complete applications, this jury will select 24 violinists to take part in the competition in Hanover.

The Joseph Joachim Violin Competition sees itself as a forum for concert life. "We have brought the challenges in the repertoire closer to the challenges in the international con-cert business. We are looking for young personalities who already inspire the audience with their artistic presence and musical voice on the violin," says Antje Weithaas, summarizing the high expectations. The competition program consists of up to five rounds: Solo, accompanied by first-class pianists, playing with a chamber music ensemble and a symphony concert alongside the NDR Radiophilharmonie under the baton of Stephan Zilias. The eight semi-finalists must perform a self-conceived recital with a textual introduction to the audience. The final concert will also include the premiere of a work by Enno Poppe, which will be composed for the competition on behalf of the Stiftung Niedersachsen.

The competition jury represents a diverse perspective: Soprano Juliane Banse will chair the jury and carry out the assessments together with violinists Ana Chumachenco, Lorenza Borrani, Ning Feng, Liza Ferschtman, Kim Kashkashian as well as pianist Robert Levin and conductor Stephan Zilias.

Participation in the competition can be the start of an international career on the world's most prestigious stages. "We are delighted that the most important music festivals in Germany, renowned ensembles, orchestras and concert halls will accompany the competi-ion as partners in 2024. Around 30 representatives will attend the competition live and award concert engagements independently of the jury," says Oliver Wille. Among others, the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Nuremberg Philharmonic Orchestra, the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra have confirmed their participation. The Stiftung Niedersachsen itself awards a total of 70,000 euros in prize money. The Fritz Behrens Foundation will also award a high-quality Guadagnini violin for three years. G. Henle Verlag will award a music voucher in the amount of 2,000 euros. Warner Classics, the classical music label of the global Warner Music Group, is awarding the international distribution and marketing of the debut album. Maria Ioudenitch won the Warner Classics Award in 2021. Her debut album "Songbird" was honoured with the OPUS KLASSIK music prize in 2023.

Competition Facts
The Stiftung Niedersachsen has been organizing the Joseph Joachim Violin Competition since 1991. Antje Weithaas and Oliver Wille have been the artistic directors and hosts of the competition since 2019. With the competition, they give curious young violinists the chance to impress with their instrumental excellence, show humility towards composers and their scores, demonstrate the courage to be individual and make direct musical statements with their instrument.

Period of the competition
September 16 to September 28, 2024 in Hanover

Application
The Joseph Joachim Violin Competition is announced worldwide. Violinists between the ages of 16 and 32 can apply via the application form at www.jjv-hannover.de/en until 31 March 2024. The competition participants will be announced in May 2024.

About Stiftung Niedersachsen
The Stiftung Niedersachsen has been committed to art, culture, science and education throughout the state since 1987. As a state cultural foundation, it strengthens the diversi-ty of culture in Lower Saxony by supporting non-profit projects and helps to raise the profile of the cultural location. Each year, the foundation supports around 200 projects and is itself operationally active with funding programs.

Artistic Directors
Antje Weithaas and Oliver Wille
Antje Weithaas, 1st prize winner of the first Joseph Joachim Violin Competition in 1991, has been the director since 2019. Today, she is one of the most internationally renowned violin virtuosos and a world-class violin teacher. As a soloist, Antje Weithaas works with the world's most renowned orchestras. For almost ten years, she was also responsible for the musical profile of the Camerata Bern as its artistic director. Her CD recordings are reference recordings and have met with enthusiastic reactions, such as the complete recordings of the solo sonatas and partitas by Johann Sebastian Bach and the solo sonatas by Eugène Ysaÿe.

Oliver Wille will continue the competition's close cooperation with the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media (HMTMH). He has been a professor of string chamber music there since 2011 and leads an internationally successful quartet class, among other things. He has been Vice President of the university since 2021. As a founding member of the innovative, acclaimed Kuss Quartet, he has helped define chamber music for more than 25 years. In addition to their international concert activities, the four have become known for their new concert formats. The renowned violinist has also been the director of the Sommerliche Musiktage Hitzacker since 2015.

Partner
The Joseph Joachim Violin Competition brings together important institutions from Hanover and Lower Saxony's musical life. The Stiftung Niedersachsen cooperates with the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, the NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Fritz Behrens Stiftung, Warner Classics and the G. Henle publishing house. NDR Kultur is a cultural partner of the competition. In addition, more than 30 concert partnerships have been concluded with renowned festivals, orchestras and concert halls.