Classical Music News

Prizewinners Announced at the Oskar Nedbal Viola Competition

October 4, 2022

2 MIN READ

Japanese-Dutch violist Takehiro Konoe received First Prize, valued at 40,000 CZK

The fourth edition of the Prague-based Oskar Nedbal Viola Competition has recently come to a close. Following several selection rounds and a live semi-final, the finalists all performed a concerto with the Carlsbad Symphony Orchestra in the concert hall of the Prague Conservatory.

At the 2021 edition of the competition, no player was deemed worthy of First Prize — but that cycle was broken in 2022, with 25-year-old Dutch-Japanese violist Takehiro Konoe taking out the top spot. He was also given the award for the best performance of a work by Martinů.

The full results are as follows:

1st prize — Takehiro Konoe (Japan/the Netherlands)

2nd prize — Kyungsik Shin (South Korea)

3rd prize — Joseph Skerik (USA)

Competition Laureate — Hwayoon Lee (South Korea)

Honorary mention — Laura Liu (USA), Wilhelm Magner (Canada), Yibo Cao (China), Ilias Livieratos (Greece)

Special awards

Audience prize — Kyungsik Shin (South Korea)

Prize for the best interpretation of a work by Oskar Nedbal — Ilias-Ion Livieratos (Greece)

Prize for the best interpretation of a work by Martinů — Takehiro Konoe (Japan/the Netherlands)

Pirastro Prize for an outstanding young talent — Laura Liu (USA)

Prague Conservatory Director's Prize for the best Czech competitor — Bohumil Bondarenko (CZ)

The jury was comprised of Tim Frederiksen, Lech Antonio Uszynski, Kristina Fialová, Lars Anders Tomter, and Jan Pěruška.

"We are overjoyed to see that the two years of the pandemic and the related restrictions have not deprived the young violists of their motivation to work," said Kristina Fialová, the founder and director of the competition.