Classical Music

Kronberg Academy’s Founder Raimund Trenkler on the New Casals Forum

The Kronberg Academy, in Kronberg, Germany, has this week opened its new venue, the Casals Forum. Complete with two concert halls with state-of-the-art acoustics, plus an adjoining study and administration center, the new building marks the start of a new era at the institution.

VC recently had the chance to catch up with Raimund Trenkler, Founder and Chairman of the Board of the Kronberg Academy Foundation, to discuss what the new addition means to the academy.

When the Kronberg Academy was founded in 1993, what was the original mission of the institution?

On one hand, the mission was to bring together the most talented young artists at Kronberg and support them on their way to professional careers.

On the other, Kronberg was founded on the idea that we can make an impact in our society. We see music as something more than a wonderous and joyful art form. I think as musicians, it’s our duty to see what we can do for our society to make this world a little better.

At Kronberg’s founding, Pablo Casals was our role model. Everything started in 1993 on October 22nd, which was the 20th anniversary of Pablo Casal’s death.

How do you think the Kronberg Academy has grown and expanded over the decades?

We started with the cello. I’m originally a cellist, and so Kronberg started as a cello family. Cellist and conductor Mr. Mstislav Rostropovich called Kronberg “the world capital of the cello.” The group of musicians eventually expanded to a family of all string players from the string field as a whole.

This month, you’re celebrating the opening of the Casals Forum, which includes a beautiful concert hall that fits 600 people. Can you tell us what it means to you personally?

It means that the Kronberg Academy has a home. We were originally divided into several buildings, but now we are united in one place. It is exciting to have a central location that is both professional and beautiful.

It is a dream come true. With the completion of the Casals Forum and its exciting opening, it went from an idea to a realization. I feel grateful that Kronberg can give the music and its wonderful musicians a home.

What do you think the Casals Forum means to the Kronberg Academy’s students?

I think for the students, it gives additional opportunities to make tapes or recordings, to always have the possibility to work and practice, and to develop professional standards. It is also inspiring for the students to see the whole Kronberg family come together in this one building.

Can you tell us about the features and innovations of the new venue, and the extensive work done to optimize the acoustics?

It was a larger undertaking. We tried to finalize the acoustics so that not only could a solo cellist playing a Bach suite sound perfect, but also the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, which is roughly 65 musicians. While this is not an easy feat, we have the ability to change the acoustics depending on who is playing and the makeup of the ensemble. We are thrilled that it worked out, and you could definitely hear it at our opening concert.

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What do you hope this new venue will bring to the Kronberg Academy?

I think this new venue will be an attraction for other artists. It will also be a great resource for our wonderful musicians working here.

The Casals Forum will create new ideas and give us new opportunities. For example, artists can now work with orchestras directly at the Kronberg Academy. This was not possible before, as we would often rent other halls, which was quite the difficult task.

What are your long goals for the Kronberg Academy?

Our next milestone will be a student dormitory being built on the site. It will complete our music campus so that the students can live, learn, practice, and perform on stage with renowned artists.

The plan is that, hopefully, the student dormitory can open its doors in 2025. This will be another exciting moment for all of us and a further step ahead for Kronberg Academy.

How important is a musician’s environment to their performance, career success, etc?

When we think about an environment, it is not only the building. We have to consider the surroundings as a whole. Kronberg, for one thing, is easy to reach — the train station is 200 meters. It is more or less in the middle of a beautiful park.

It is so important, as artists and musicians, to have the opportunity and environment to contemplate. So many things in our life are automated and sped up, but one needs ample time and peace to contemplate a Beethoven sonata.

It’s important to understand that artists need more than just a perfect building and rooms. They need a setting that supports communication and makes its visitors feel safe. In general, an environment should inspire creation and productiveness, and we hope that is what the new Kronberg Academy accomplishes.

The city of Kronberg seems to fully embrace the Kronberg Academy and its musical culture. Can you tell us about the role in which the community plays?

The community is fully involved. For example, close to 200 young cellists are here right now and are mostly put up in private houses around the city. It’s wonderful that, over the 29 years, society is enjoying the festival and institution. I think that the musicians who come here have the feeling of being at home.

How did the Kronberg Academy adapt to COVID-19 and its negative impacts on the music industry? What are you looking forward to now that things are getting closer to normal?

We tried to go forward in these difficult times. Like many others, we used online techniques for teaching.

What we are focused most on now is welcoming the live audience back. I see that in several places, this task seems to be difficult, but luckily we don’t have to worry too much at the moment. I’m happy to report that most of the concerts are sold out, so we are positive for what’s to come.

From the pandemic, I think we were given an understanding of why music is so important for our society.

Lastly, can you name a favorite memory of yours at the Kronberg Academy?

That’s tough. Of course, there are so many special moments. I never will forget, in the beginning, my first conversation in Washington with Marta Casals Istomin — and how happy I was to receive her confidence in the institution’s mission. It was a strong push for me to go forward and start the Kronberg Academy.

Additionally, all of the wonderful moments with Mstislav Leopoldovich, who become really a friend, have proved to be a great inspiration.

All the wonderful artists who come here time and time again are an inspiration for me as well. There are very private moments, that I hold dear in my heart and will never forget.

To view the concert schedule for the 2022 Kronberg Festival, click here.

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Classical Music

Special Prizes Awarded at Indianapolis Violin Competition

The special prizes have today been awarded, at the gala ceremony of the 2022 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, in Indianapolis, United States.

Yesterday evening, the 2022 competition’s Gold Medal was awarded to 28-year-old VC Young Artist Sirena Huang from the United States.

The silver and bronze medals were awarded to 22-year-old Julian Rhee from the United States and 24-year-old Minami Yoshida from Japan.

Sirena today received a USD $75,000 cash prize, a Carnegie Hall recital debut, a professional CD recording and website plus four years of career management, guidance and international concert engagements.

Below Sirena is performing Dvorak Violin Concerto in A minor Op.53 with conductor Leonard Slatkin and the Indianapolis Symphony, in the competitions Final Concerto Round.

All rounds, and all performances, of this year’s competition are available now at: www.theviolinchannel.com/vc-live-2022-indianapolis-violin-competition

The $1000 special prize for the best performance of a “Bach Work” in the competition’s opening round was today awarded to: VC Young Artist Sirena Huang for her performance of Bach’s Solo Sonata No. 3 in C Major in the opening round.

The $1000 special prize for the best performance of a “Work by Paganini, Ernst or Milstein” during the competition was awarded to: 5th prize winner, VC Young Artist SooBeen Lee for her performance of Milstein’s ‘Paganiniana Variations’ in the preliminary round.

The special prize of $1000 each for the best performance of a “Mozart Sonata” was awarded to: VC Young Artist Sirena Huang and pianist Melivia Raharjo for their performance of Mozart’s Violin Sonata in G in the opening round.

The special prize of $1000 for the best performance of an “Encore Work” was awarded to: VC Young Artist Sirena Huang for her performance of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Melodie‘ from ‘Souvenir d’un lieu cher‘ in the preliminary round.

The special prize of $1000 each for the best performance of a “Beethoven Sonata” in the Semi-Final stage was awarded to: VC Young Artist Sirena Huang and pianist Melivia Raharjo for their performance of the the 7th Sonata in the Semi-Final stage.

The special prize of $1000 for the best performance of the competition’s newly “Commissioned Work, ‘Incontra’ by John Harbison” was awarded to: VC Young Artist Sirena Huang.

The special $1000 prize for the best performance of a “Ysaye Sonata” was awarded to: 4th prize winner Claire Wells for her performance of Ysaye’s 4th Sonata.

The special prize of $1000 for the best performance of a “Violin and Piano Sonata other than Beethoven in the Semi-Final Round” was awarded to: VC Young Artist Sirena Huang for her performance with pianist Melivia Raharjo of Brahms’ 2nd Violin Sonata.

The $1000 special prize for the best performance of a “Kreisler Encore” was awarded to: VC Young Artist Sirena Huang for her performance of ‘La Gitana‘ in the Classical Final Round.

The $2500 special prize for the best performance of a “Mozart Concerto” was awarded to: bronze medallist, VC Young Minami Yoshida for her performance of Mozart’s A major Concerto in the Classical Final Round.

The $5000 special prize for the best performance of a “Major Violin Concerto in the Final Round” was awarded to: VC Young Artist Sirena Huang for her performance of Dvorak Violin Concerto in the competitions Final Concerto Round.

This year’s jury comprised: Jaime Laredo, Noah Bendix-Balgley, Ivan Chan, Jinjoo Cho, Yuzuko Horigome, Dong-Suk Kang, Cho-Liang Lin, Mihaela Martin, and Liviu Prunaru.

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Classical Music

BREAKING Sirena Huang Awarded 1st Prize at Indianapolis Violin Competition

28-year-old VC Young Artist Sirena Huang from the United States has just minutes ago been awarded the Gold Medal at the 2022 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis (IVCI).

A graduate of The Juilliard School and Yale University, where she studied with Stephen Clapp, Sylvia Rosenberg, Itzhak Perlman and Hyo Kang, Sirena is a former major prize winner at the Elmar Oliveira, Singapore and Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competitions

As the 2022 first prize winner, Sirena will receive USD $75,000 cash prize, a Carnegie Hall recital debut, a professional CD recording and website development plus four years career management and guidance and international concert engagements.

Second and Third prizes were awarded to 22-year-old Julian Rhee from the United States and 24-year-old VC Young Artist Minami Yoshida from Japan.

Fourth, fifth and six prizes were presented to 21-year-old Claire Wells from the United States, 21-year-old VC Young Artist SooBeen Lee from South Korea and 22-year-old Joshua Brown from the United States.

Chaired by IVCI jury president and Artistic Director Jaime Laredo, the competition jury comprised Noah Bendix-Balgley, Ivan Chan, Pamela Frank, Yuzuko Horigome, Dong-Suk Kang, Cho-Liang Lin, Mihaela Martin, and Liviu Prunaru.

Previous major prize winners of the competition include Leonidas Kavakos, Judith Ingolfsson, Sergey Khachatryan, Simone Lamsma, Mihaela Martin, Ida Kavafian — and VC Artists Rochard Lin, Augustin Hadelich, Tessa Lark, Ji Young Lim, Yoojin Jang, and Benjamin Beilman.

All rounds of this year’s competition are available now at: www.theviolinchannel.com/vc-live-2022-indianapolis-violin-competition

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Classical Music

Canada’s Royal Conservatory Announces 2022/23 Fellows

Founded in 2013, the Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Performance Residency Program of the Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School in Toronto, Canada, provides emerging musicians a platform for career development.

The one-year postgraduate program is offered in piano, voice, and orchestral instruments. The fellowship is fully funded and additionally provides each participant with a living stipend of $6,000.

The 2022-23 Rebanks Fellows are guitarist Tim Beattie, violinist Aaron Chan, sopranos Jonelle Sills and Hannah Crawford, violist Caleb Georges, and cellist Daniel Hamin Go.

The fellows will each have a primary teacher from among The Glenn Gould School’s esteemed faculty, who will provide focused coaching twice a month. Coaching sessions will be given by artists including pianists Emanuel Ax and András Schiff, while additional sessions will be hosted with Canada’s leading musicians including Peter Oundjian, Johannes Debus, and Julian Kuerti.

Each Rebanks Fellow will also present a recital and perform chamber music concerts throughout the year at The Royal Conservatory. Orchestral musicians will have leadership opportunities in the Royal Conservatory Orchestra, working with such conductors including Sir Roger Norrington and Tito Muñoz.

Alumni of the program include members of leading chamber ensembles such as The ARC Ensemble and VC Artist The Rolston Quartet, plus those who have performed at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Koerner Hall, and with major orchestras in Canada and abroad.

More information on the 2022/23 Rebanks Fellows can be found here.

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Classical Music

The Isidore String Quartet Signs with David Rowe Artists

Founded in 2019, the Isidore String Quartet (ISQ) has joined the roster at David Rowe Artists for general management and all bookings in USA and Canada.

The ISQ comprises violinists Adrian Steele and Phoenix Avalon, violist Devin Moore, and cellist Joshua McClendon, who are current students at New York’s Juilliard School, and took home first-prize at Canada’s 14th Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC) earlier this month.

David Rowe had attended this year’s Banff Competition “simply to decompress” after completing the first in-person booking conference in three years. Upon hearing ISQ perform, the agency was compelled to sign them, and the quartet became its first North American string quartet signing since over 20 years ago.

“The Banff win will help introduce the world to this superb ensemble, who already perform at an astonishingly high level,” Rowe stated. “We are confident they will quickly emerge as the premier chamber music ensemble of their generation, with a mission to reinvigorate the established canon while bringing forward compelling new and overlooked voices.”

The win at the Banff competition will see ISQ tour North America and Europe, experience a two-year appointment as Ensemble-in-Residance at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, perform at Haydn Hall in Eisenstadt and the Lucerne Festival, plus have a two-week residency at Banff Centre including coaching, career guidance, and a professional recording opportunity.

You can watch the Banff Competition on The Violin Channel, here.

For the upcoming season, ISQ will perform at the Kennedy Center and also give their New York City debut at the Mannes School of Music. Additionally, they will work on “PROJECT: MUSIC HEALS US,” an initiative providing education and healing to marginalized communities who may have limited access to live music performances.

“This is a quartet that has a strong personal voice and vision,” commented Banff competition director, Barry Shiffman on ISQ’s performance. “They are passionate musicians that approach their work as artists in society with a mature seriousness and purpose.”

“[We are] honored and humbled to join the incredible roster of David Rowe Artists!” said the Isidore String Quartet. “We have the utmost respect and admiration for David, Arielle, and all of the artists on their roster and we are tremendously excited for the future as we embark on this new chapter in our career.”

Based in Massachusetts, David Rowe Artists was founded in 1998 and represents internationally-acclaimed chamber music ensembles. Their roster includes groups such as the Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, Brentano Quartet, Castalian Quartet, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Elias Quartet, David Finckel and Wu Han, among others.

Highlights from ISQ’s performances at the 2022 BISQC can be viewed below.

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Classical Music

Fritz Kreisler Competition Announces 3 Candidates for the Grand Finale

The First Finale of the 10th Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition held in Vienna on September 23 saw the finalists perform a violin concerto from the 19th and 20th centuries, including Kreisler cadenzas. Out of the 6 candidates, three finalists were selected to perform in the Grand Finals on September 25 at the Great Haal of the Musikverein.

Open to violinists born after September 25, 1991, who are determined to pursue an international career, all rounds of the competition are being streamed on The Violin Channel. Tune in here.

Finalists of the 10th Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition:

Guido Sant’Anna e Silva – 17, Brazil

Michael Shaham – 18, Israel

Rino Yoshimoto – 19, Japan

4th, 5th, and 6th prizes of the 10th Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition:

4th: Raphael Nussbaumer – 16, Switzerland

5th: Amira Abouzahra – 16, Germany

6th: Elli Choi – 21, USA

The Grand Finals, with the last three competitors, will be held on September 25. The last three finalists will play the same concert as the first final round, now with the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Joel. The competition will culminate with the announcement of the winners and the award ceremony after.

Prize money of €20,000, 15,000, 10,000, 7,000, 6,000, 5,000 will go to first through sixth place respectively.

The first prize winner will receive several concert engagements including with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Nizhny Novgorod State Philharmonic, and the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana.

Additionally, the first prize includes a CD recording on NAXOS and a tour of Asia in May 2023 with World Culture Networks (WNC). We recently talked to Naxos Founder and head, Klaus Heymann, on the collaboration with the Kreisler Violin Competition, his thoughts on starting a career as a young musician, and the state of the classical music industry.

Previous major prize winners include VC Artists William Hagen, Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, and Sergey Khachatryan.

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