Filippo Nicosia International Chamber Music Award Announces 2024 Winner

The Helix Trio from Switzerland won the prize and will receive €5,000, concert engagements, and a range of other perks

Held in Briosco, Italy, the Filippo Nicosia International Chamber Music Award and Masterclass is targeted at chamber music groups who want to join the roster of Le Dimore del Quartetto or the Quartetto di Cremona class at the Stauffer Academy. It is open to both quartets and trios.

The 2024 winner of the award is the Helix Trio. Comprising Jaume Angelès Fité (violin), Guillermo Ortega Santos (cello), and Paula Belzunegui (piano), the ensemble was formed in Basel in 2022, and they are presently students of Anton Kernjak, Claudio Martínez-Mehner, Zoltán Fejérvári, Silvia Simionescu, and Anna Gebert at the Hochschule für Musik FHNW Basel.

Prizewinners at the ORPHEUS Swiss Chamber Music Competition 2022, the group also won the "La Flama" Competition in 2023 and made its debut in the Palau de la Musica of Catalunya in November that year. In addition, the trio appeared in the IMS Prussia Cove Masterclasses with pianist Dénes Várjon, as well as the Vic 2023 International Chamber Music Academy with violinist Abel Tomàs (Casals Quartet).

As part of their Filippo Nicosia prize package, they receive €5,000, promotional photos, concerts through the Fondazione Gioventù Musicale d’Italia and CIDIM across the next two seasons, a debut recording on the Da Vinci label, €350 each towards Henle editions, and an interview with UK journalist Peter Lewis.

In 2024, the Filippo Nicosia jury comprised Cristiano Gualco (President), Simone Gramaglia, Eckart Runge, Oliver Wille, Antonio Valentino.