ARD International Music Competition


The ARD International Music Competition is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is organised by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and is held once a year in Munich, usually in September. Since its inception in 1952, it has become one of the most prestigious classical music competitions. In 1957, it became one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.
A prize at this competition has acted as a springboard for a career. Notable past winners and prize winners include: Yuri Bashmet, Myung-whun Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Sol Gabetta, Alban Gerhardt, Natalia Gutman, Heinz Holliger, Nobuko Imai, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Kim Kashkashian, François Leleux, Jessye Norman, Quatuor Ébène, Thomas Quasthoff, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Antoine Tamestit, Christian Tetzlaff, Alexandre Tharaud, Tokyo String Quartet, Mitsuko Uchida and Anne Sofie von Otter.

History

Between 1947 and 1950, the Radio Frankfurt held a "Young Soloists Competition". The earliest competition discovered two female vocalists who would soon take their place among the international talented: Christa Ludwig and Erika Köth. Instrumentalists included flautist Karlheinz Zöller and pianist Robert-Alexander Bohnke. The newly founded ARD continued the concept of bringing together talented young musicians from the entire globe.
The competition categories change from year to year and include solo instrumentsm voice and chamber ensembles. An emphasis has been placed on modern music, and contemporary composers have regularly been commissioned to write new pieces for this Competition since 2001.
350 to 450 young musicians usually apply each year, out of whom 200 candidates, from 35 to 40 countries, make it past the preliminary round. A large percentage of competitors come from countries other than Germany.
The 2020 edition was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.

Categories

  • 2000: Flute, Voice, Piano duo, Viola, String quartet
  • 2001: Violin, Cello, Wind quintet, Percussion, Saxophone
  • 2002: Piano, Oboe, Bassoon, Piano trio
  • 2003: Voice, Clarinet, Trumpet, Double bass,
  • 2004: Flute, Viola, String quartet, Harp
  • 2005: Violin, Piano duo, Horn, Cello
  • 2006: Piano, Voice, Voice, Wind quintet
  • 2007: Oboe, Trombone, Piano trio, Percussion
  • 2008: Bassoon, Clarinet, Viola, String quartet
  • 2009: Violin, Voice, Double bass, Harp
  • 2010: Flute, Piano duo, Horn, Cello
  • 2011: Piano, Oboe, Piano duo, Trumpet, Organ
  • 2012: Voice, Clarinet, String quartet
  • 2013: Violin, Bassoon, Viola, Piano trio
  • 2014: Piano, Cello, Wind quintet, Percussion
  • 2015: Flute, Voice, Piano duo, Trombone
  • 2016: Horn, Double bass, String quartet, Harp
  • 2017: Piano, Violin, Oboe, Guitar
  • 2018: Voice, Trumpet, Viola, Piano trio
  • 2019: Bassoon, Clarinet, Cello, Percussion
  • 2021: Piano Duo, Horn, Voice, Violin
  • 2022: Flute, Trombone, Piano, String quartet
  • 2023: Piano trio, Harp, Viola, Double bass
  • 2024: Wind Quintet, Voice, Oboe, Violoncello
Piano competition had been held almost uninterruptedly from 1952 to 1973, except the years 1955 and 1964. It was then held every other year till 1981. It was held consecutively from 1981 to 1983, and then every other year again till 1999.
In 1953, three categories were added: violin, flute, violin-piano duo. Violin competition was held every 3 years from 1966 to 1984.
Four categories were added in 1954: voice, oboe, bassoon, clarinet. The voice competition had been held every year from 1954 to 1972. It was then held every two years till 2000. Oboe competition had been held every five years from 1976 to 1996. Bassoon competition had been held six times in the 20th century.
The competition kept expanding categories in the following years, adding piano duo, horn, cello, organ. New categories in 1958 were cello-piano duo, trumpet, and harpsichord, which would only have three additional editions. String quartet competition opened in 1959.
The 1960s saw the first edition of piano trio, viola, trombone, wind quintet. Two categories briefly appeared: string trio and piano sight-reading. Four categories premiered in the 1970s: guitar, percussion, double bass, and recorder, which was only held twice so far. The first harp competition was held in 1983, as its only edition in the 20th century.

Management

Source
Artistic Director: Meret Forster
Managing Director: Elisabeth Kozik
Project Management: Anja Krainz
Public Relations: NN

Prize money

Prize money per category
  • 1. Prize: €10,000
  • 2. Prize: €7,500
  • 3. Prize: €5,000

    Winners

  • Category:Prize-winners of the ARD International Music Competition
Full lists of winners can be retrieved from the competition's website.

1994s

;1994
Voice
Violoncello
  • 1st Prize: Jens Peter Maintz, Germany
  • 2nd Prize: Tatjana Vasiljeva, Russia
  • 3rd Prizes Tanja Tetzlaff, Germany
Organ
  • 2nd Prize: Ariane Metz, Germany
  • 3rd Prizes Leonhard Amselgruber, Germany

    2000s

;2000
Voice
  • 1st Prize: Zoryana Kushpler, Ukraine
  • 3rd Prizes : Stefanie Krahnenfeld, Germany; Christa Mayer, Germany
Voice
Viola
  • 2nd Prize: Danusha Waskiewicz, Germany
Flute
  • 2nd Prizes : Rozàlia Szabó, Hungary; Henrik Wiese, Germany
  • 3rd Prize: Kersten McCall, Germany
Piano Duo
  • 1st Prize: Mati Mikalai / Kai Ratassepp, Estonia
  • 2nd Prize: Duo d'Accord, Taiwan/Germany
String Quartet
  • 2nd Prize: Avalon String Quartett, France/Canada/USA
  • 3rd Prize: Quartetto Prometeo, Italy
;2001
Violin
  • 2nd Prize: Annette von Hehn, Germany
  • 3rd Prizes : Min Jung Kang, Korea; Yamei Yu, Germany
Cello
  • 1st Prize: Danjulo Ishizaka, Germany
  • 2nd Prizes : Julie Albers, USA; Monika Leskovar, Croatia
  • 3rd Prize: Thomas Carroll, Great Britain
Saxophone
  • 2nd Prize: Alexandre Doisy, France
  • 3rd Prizes : Lutz Koppetsch, Germany; Julien Petit, France
Percussion
  • 1st Prize: Marta Klimasara, Poland
  • 2nd Prize: Eirik Raude, Norway
  • 3rd Prize: Christophe Roldan, France
Wind Quintet
  • 1st Prize: Miró Ensemble, Spain
  • 2nd Prize: Orsolino Quintett, Germany/Austria
  • 3rd Prize: St. Petersburg Woodwind Quintet, Russia
;2002
Bassoon
Oboe
  • 3rd Prizes : Nora Cismondi, France; Alexandre Gattet, France
Piano
  • 1st Prize: Denys Proshayev, Ukraine
  • 2nd Prize: Ferenc Vizi, Romania
  • 3rd Prize: Chiao-Ying Chang, Taiwan
Piano Trio
  • 2nd Prizes : Trio con Brio, Denmark/Korea; Trio Ondine, Sweden/Denmark/Norway
;2003
Voice
Voice
  • 1st Prize: Gérard Kim, Korea
  • 3rd Prizes : Tyler Duncan, Canada; Günter Papendell, Germany
Double Bass
  • 1st Prize: Nabil Shehata, Germany
  • 2nd Prize: Roman Patkoló, Slovakia
  • 3rd Prize: Ödön Rácz, Hungary
Clarinet
  • 2nd Prize: Olivier Patey, France
  • 3rd Prize: Florent Pujuila, France
Trumpet
  • 1st Prize: David Guerrier, France
  • 2nd Prize: Giuliano Sommerhalder, Switzerland
  • 3rd Prizes : Gabor Richter, Hungary; Guillaume Couloumy, France
;2004
Viola
  • 1st Prize: Antoine Tamestit, France
  • 2nd Prize: Ryszard Groblewski, Poland
  • 3rd Prize: Tomoko Akasaka, Japan
Flute
  • 1st Prize: Magali Mosnier, France
  • 2nd Prize: Pirmin Grehl, Germany
  • 3rd Prize: Andrea Oliva, Italy
String Quartet
  • 1st Prize: Ébène Quartet, France
  • 2nd Prize: Faust Quartett, Germany
  • 3rd Prize: Quatuor Benaïm, Israel/France
Harp
  • 1st Prize: Anton Sie, Netherlands
  • 2nd Prize: Nabila Chajai, France
  • 3rd Prize: Mirjam Schroder, Germany
;2005
Violin
  • 1st Prize: Keisuke Okasaki, Japan
  • 2nd Prize: Akiko Yamada, Japan
  • 3rd Prize: Katja Lämmermann, Germany
Cello
  • 1st Prize: Jing Zhao, China
  • 2nd Prize: Alexander Bouzlov, Russia
  • 3rd Prize: Alexander Chaushian, Armenia/Great Britain
Horn
  • 1st Prize: Szabolcs Zempléní, Hungary
  • 2nd Prizes : Louis-Philippe Marsolais, Canada; Renate Hupka, Germany
  • 3rd Prize: Christoph Eß, Germany
Piano Duo
  • 2nd Prizes : Victor y Luis del Valle, Spain; Piano Duo Poskute – Daukantas, Lithuania
  • 3rd Prize: Silivanova – Puryzhinskiy, Russia
;2006
Voice/Opera
  • 1st Prize: Jun Mo Yang, Korea
  • 2nd Prize: Joshua Hopkins, Canada
  • 3rd Prizes : Ilse Eerens, Belgium; Anna Kasyan, Armenia
Voice/Lied
  • 2nd Prizes : Roxana Constantinescu, Rumania; Carolina Ullrich, Chile/Germany
  • 3rd Prizes : Colin Balzer, Canada; Peter Schöne, Germany
Piano
Wind Quintet
  • 1st Prize: Quintette Aquilon, France
  • 2nd Prize: Quintett Chantily, Germany/Hungary/Russia/Finland
  • 3rd Prize: Weimarer Bläserquintett, Germany
;2007
Oboe
  • 1st Prize: Ramón Ortega Quero, Spain
  • 2nd Prize: Ivan Podyomov, Russia
  • 3rd Prize: Maria Sournatcheva, Russia
Trombone
  • 1st Prize: Fabrice Millischer, France
  • 2nd Prize: Frederic Belli, Germany
  • 3rd Prize: Juan Carlos Matamoros, Spain
Percussion
  • 1st Prize: Johannes Fischer, Germany
  • 2nd Prize: Vassilena Serafimova, Bulgaria
Piano Trio
  • 1st Prize: Tecchler Trio, Switzerland/Germany
  • 2nd Prize: Morgenstern Trio, Germany/France
  • 3rd Prize: Trio Cérès, France
;2008
Viola
Clarinet
  • 1st Prize: Sebastian Manz, Germany
  • 3rd Prizes : Shelly Ezra, Israel; Taira Kaneko, Japan
Bassoon
String Quartet
  • 1st Prize: Apollon Musagete Quartett, Poland
  • 2nd Prize: Afiara String Quartet, Canada
  • 3rd Prizes : Gémeaux Quartet, Germany/Switzerland; Verus String Quartet, Japan
;2009
Violin
  • 1st Prize: Hyeyoon Park, Korea
  • 2nd Prize: Kei Shirai, Japan
  • 3rd Prize: Lily Francis, USA
Double Bass
  • 1st Prize: Gunars Upatnieks, Latvia
  • 2nd Prize: Stanislau Anishchanka, Belarus
  • 3rd Prizes : Olivier Thiery, France; Ivan Zavgorodniy, Ukraine
Voice
  • 1st Prize: Anita Watson, Australia
  • 2nd Prize: Sunyoung Seo, Korea; Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Germany
  • 3rd Prize: Hye Jung Lee, Korea; Falko Hönisch, Germany