The category prize winners have today been announced at the 2019 Kloster Schöntal International Violin Competition – in Schöntal, Germany.
10-year-old Riisa Nakahara from Japan was awarded 1st prize in the Junior Division (14 Years and Younger).
Riisa is a former prize winner at the Grumiaux International Violin Competition and the Singapore Violin Festival Competition.
2nd and 3rd prizes were awarded to 13-year-old Dragos Rusanu from Romania - and 13-year-old Haymon Haffner from Germany.
4th and 5th prizes were awarded to 13-year-old Bianca Ciubancan from Romania/United States - and 13-year-old Leonard Toschev from Germany.
15-year-old Daniil Bulayev from Latvia was awarded 1st prize in the Intermediate Division (15 to 17 Years Old).
A current student of Nelli Sarkisyan and 2019 jury President and competition founder Petru Munteanu, Daniil is a former top prize winner at the Il Piccolo Violino Magico, Zhuhai international Mozart Competition for Young Musicians - and the Kogan International Violin Competition.
2nd and 3rd prizes were awarded to 15-year-old Haewon Lim from South Korea - and 17-year-old Katharina Auer from Austria.
4th and 5th prizes were awarded to 16-year-old Katharina Strepp from Germany - and 17-year-old Jingran Wang from China.
18-year-old Maxim Tzekov from Austria was awarded 1st prize in the Senior Division (18 to 20 Years Old).
A student of Lieke te Winkel and Gerhard Schulz, Maxim is a former top prize winner at the Allegro Vivo Chamber Music Festival, Prima La Musica and Musica Juventutis Competitions.
2nd and 3rd prizes were awarded to 19-year-old Lisa Yasuda from Japan - and 19-year-old Robert Einenkel from Germany.
4th and 5th prizes were awarded to 18-year-old Alexandra Weissbecker from Germany - and 20-year-old Kejun Guo from China.
The special prize of a one year loan of a fine instrument from Florian Leonhard Fine Violins was awarded to Daniil Bulayev.
Previous major prize winners include: VC Artists InMo Yang, Sarah Christian, Yury Revich, Igor Pikayzen, Alexander Conunova, Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, Rennosuke Fukuda, Ziyu He and Ioana Christina Goicea.
The 2019 jury comprises: Petru Munteanu (President), Albena Danailova, Florian Leonhard, Svetlana Makarova, Zhou Qian, J.X. Schachtner, Takashi Shimizu, Elly Suh, Florin Parvulescu and Weidong Tong.