Hungary’s Bartok World Competition Announces 2023 Winners

Moldovan violinist Lilia Pocitari has won the first prize and a cash award of €22,000

Founded by the Liszt Academy Budapest in 2017 the Bartok World Competition is held in six-year cycles between piano, violin, composition, and string quartet editions.

Open to anyone under the age of 30, this year’s edition for violin received over 90 applications from 26 countries, of which 52 were female, 44 were male, and the youngest was born in 2008. 

Moldovan violinist Lilia Pocitari has received the €22,000 first prize, plus the €2,000 special prize for the best performance of the compulsory contemporary piece — Serbian composer Veljko Nenadić’s Impromptu and Perpetuum Mobile. 

Pocitari will also receive opportunities to perform with the Budafok Dohnanyi Orchestra, Concerto Budapest, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, and Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Second prize and €14,000 was awarded to Japanese violinist Tomotaka Seki, who will solo with the Pannon Philharmonics. 

Third prize with €8,000 went to German-Polish-Japanese violinist Maya Alexandra Kasprzak, who will perform with the House of Music Hungary, MÜPA Hungary.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth prizes were awarded to Lorenz Karls, Gáspár Kelemen, Kryštof Kohout, respectively. Karls will also feature at the Bartók Memorial House at the Liszt Academy of Music.

Additionally, Kelemen was awarded the €2,000 prize for the best Bartók interpretation and will receive the chance to perform with the Bartók Radio, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Zemplén Festival, House of Music Hungary, and the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. 

The 2023 international jury for violin comprised Stephan Picard, Daniel Phillips, Maxim Rysanov, Roland Daugareil, Yayoi Toda, Kristóf Baráti, Gyula Fekete, Péter Halász, and András Keller. 

To view the live rounds of the competition, click here.