Maria Ioudenitch was awarded the main prize of the 11th Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hannover

Maria Ioudenitch has won the main prize "Joseph Joachim" of the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hannover, endowed with 30,000 EUR. The 25-year-old US-American convinced the international jury consisting of Carolin Widmann, Ana Chumachenco, Suyoen Kim, Christine Schäfer, Zohrab Tadevosyan, Ulf Wallin, Donald Weilerstein, Robert Levin, Eleonore Büning and Andrew Manze in the final concert with her performance of the Violin Concerto in D major, op. 77 by Johannes Brahms alongside the NDR Radiophilharmonie under the baton of Andrew Manze as well as the commissioned work "Im Garten zu spielen" by Manfred Trojahn. All four finalists, Maria Ioudenitch, Chiara Sannicandro, Javier Comesaña and Minami Yoshida, received a monetary award of 10,000 EUR as Laureates of the competition.   

At the finale in the Grosser Sendesaal of the NDR in Hanover, further prizes were awarded to the participants of the competition. Javier Comesaña received a violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini (1765), a three-year loan from the Fritz Behrens Stiftung. Warner Classics will market Maria Ioudenitch´s debut album worldwide. G. Henle Verlag honoured Maria Ioudenitch with a music voucher and a monetary award in total 2,000 EUR. Manfred Trojahn, together with the jury, awarded the prize of 5,000 EUR for the best interpretation of his commissioned work "Im Garten zu spielen" to Maria Ioudenitch. The Kuss Quartett awarded the Chamber Music Prize of 3,000 EUR to Maria Ioudenitch. The Audience Prize of 2,000 EUR was awarded to Chiara Sannicandro. During the award ceremony, 22 concert engagements for selected participants of the competition were announced.

"All the award winners were able to deal impressively with the new, very high demands of the competition and have demonstrated great artistic maturity," Antje Weithaas, Artistic Director of the competition, was pleased to say. "This competition was not meant to be a music competition detached from concert life. We have offered the young musicians a forum for musical life and we have seen strong personalities whose path we will now follow with great anticipation," added
Oliver Wille, Artistic Director of the competition.  

The newly organized Joseph Joachim Violin Competition offered 31 young musicians a special stage with its new artistic challenges. "In the last two weeks, we have been able to get to know exciting young musicians. The jury did not have an easy task. I would like to thank all participants, the artistic directors, the jurors and all partners for their trust and their openness to follow this new path," said Lavinia Francke, Secretary General of the Stiftung Niedersachsen. More than 160 young violinists between the ages of 17 and 29 had applied to participate in the competition.

All competition concerts were streamed live on the website and in cooperation with The Violin Channel on Facebook. Interested people from all over the world followed the livestream. The concerts were called up from around 90 countries. All competition performances can still be viewed at www.jjv-hannover.de/de/medien/videos. The final concerts were broadcasted live by the competition partner, NDR Kultur.

Overview of the award winners:

The following participants receive concert engagements:

Since 1991, Stiftung Niedersachsen has been presenting the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hannover. Antje Weithaas and Oliver Wille, who took over the artistic directorship in 2019 from competition founder Krzysztof Wegrzyn, are seeking open-minded musicians who demonstrate impeccable mastery of their instrument while remaining humble servants of great composers and their scores – young artists who bravely strive for individuality, making bold musical statements with the violin: Musicians whose voice inspires deep emotions and shows an exceptional degree of versatility. Strong partners supplement the monetary awards offered by Stiftung Niedersachsen with around 30 concert invitations. Additionally, G. Henle is awarding sheet music and a three-year-loan of a Guadagnini violin will be awarded by the Fritz Behrens Stiftung. Warner Classics completes the price package with the distribution of a debut album worldwide.

Competition
Between September 26 and October 10, 2021 in Hanover, Germany

The next competition will take place in 2024.

Stiftung Niedersachsen
Since 1987, Stiftung Niedersachsen has been supporting the arts, as well as cultural, academic, and educational programs throughout Lower Saxony. With its state-wide endowment efforts, the foundation supports non-profit projects, strengthening the region’s diverse cultural profile. In addition to its active involvement, Stiftung Niedersachsen supports around 200 projects per year.

Artistic Directorship: Antje Weithaas and Oliver Wille
Antje Weithaas won the First Prize in the first Joseph Joachim Violin Competition in 1991. She is therefore the first competition winner to be directing the competition. Today, she is a world-renowned concert violinist and violin pedagogue. As a soloist, Antje Weithaas performs with some of the world’s best-known ensembles. For over 10 years, she has directed the Camerata Bern, shaping the ensemble’s musical profile. Her CD recordings have become reference milestones, sparking enthusiastic reactions, among them the complete recordings of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for violin solo and the Solo Sonatas of Eugène Ysaÿe.

Oliver Wille will continue the close cooperation between the competition and the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Dance. Since 2011, he is Professor of Chamber Music at the university, leading an internationally renowned quartet studio. As a founding member of the acclaimed and innovative Kuss Quartet, he has been shaping the chamber music scene for over 25 years. Apart from their international concert careers, the four musicians have become known for pioneering new concert formats. Since 2015, the renowned violinist has been the artistic director of the Hitzacker Summer Music Days.

Partners
Important players in the Hanoverian music scene merge together for the Joseph Joachim Violin Competition. Stiftung Niedersachsen collaborates with the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media and NDR Radiophilharmonie, NDR Kultur, Fritz Behrens Stiftung (Fritz Behrens Foundation), Warner Classics as well as music publisher G. Henle.