Germany’s Markneukirchen Instrumental Competition Names 2025 Winners

Corina Deng and Carla Usberti were awarded first prize in the violin and viola categories, respectively

Open to young soloists of all nationalities aged 30 and under, the Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition recently concluded its 60th edition for violin and viola.

The 17-year-old violinist Corina Deng (Canada/USA) won the €7,000 first prize in her category. She also received a concert engagement with the Chursächsische Philharmonie Bad Elster. 

Second place with €5,000, and the Max Reger Prize of €1,000 went to the 26-year-old Josephine Chung (Australia/Germany). Third prize with €3,500 was awarded to Teofil Milenkovic (Serbia/Italy), aged 25. 

With cash prizes the same as the violin category, the viola division awarded first place to 23-year-old Carla Usberti (Germany). The 19-year-old violist Antoine Thévoz (Switzerland) won second place, and 25-year-old Brian Isaacs (USA/Berlin) won third prize. The three viola finalists were selected from a pool of 38 traveling participants. 

Finalists in both categories were accompanied by the Vogtland Philharmonie Greiz/Reichenbach. The violinists performed with conductor Simon Edelmann, while the violists led the orchestra for the first time in the history of the competition. 

Led by Paul Roczek, the violin jury comprised Jakub Jakowicz, Min Kim, Stephan Picard, Eduard Schmieder, Gerhard Schulz, and Hanna Weinmeister. 

The viola jury was led by Barbara Westphal and comprised Katarzyna Budnik, Lena Eckels, Françoise Gneri, Pauline Sachse, German Tcakulov, and Simone von Rahden.