Prizewinners Announced at the 2024 International Max Rostal Violin Competition

22-year-old German violinist Benjamin Günst received First Prize of €7,000

Founded in 1991, the International Max Rostal Competition has been hosted at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin) since 2009 for violin and viola players aged under 30. Three players proceeded to the 2024 finals, in which they performed a concerto alongside the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra) and conductor Pavel Baleff.

The 22-year-old German violinist Benjamin Günst received First Prize of €7,000 and five sets of Pirastro strings. He was also named as the winner of two special prizes: the audience prize (€1,000) and the prize for the best performance of the commissioned work (€500).

In second place was Varvara Vasylieva (Ukraine), who received €3,000 and three sets of Pirastro strings — while YiWei Gu (China) came third and received €1,500 and one set of Pirastro strings. Gu also won the €500 special prize of the Freunde Junger Musiker Berlin e.V.

A student of Antje Weithaas at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin, Benjamin Günst made his solo debut at the age of 11, and has appeared with the Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, and the Kammerakademie Potsdam.

He is a scholarship holder at the Marie-Luise-Imbusch Foundation, the Musikfreunde Kiel Foundation, the Stähler Foundation in Stade, and the Deutschen Stiftung Musikleben. In June of 2024, Günst received the Culture Prize of the City of Kiel. He currently plays on a 1668 violin by Andrea Guarneri.

In 2024, the jury comprised David Geringas (chair), Marianne Piketty, Kyung Sun Lee, Christoph Poppen, Lars Anders Tomter, Nils Mönkemeyer, and Carol Rodland.