Switzerland’s Prix Serdang Piano Prize Announces 2024 Winner

Russian pianist Alexandra Dovgan will receive 50,000 CHF

Launched in 2022 as a result of the pandemic, the Prix Serdang is given to exceptional pianists to support their emerging careers. In 2024, it has been awarded to the 16-year-old Russian pianist Alexandra Dovgan. She will receive a cash prize of 50,000 CHF.

Born in 2007, Alexandra Dovgan passed the selective entrance test for Moscow's Academic Central Music School at the age of five. She has won a number of Russian competitions, including the Vladimir Krainev Moscow International Piano Competition, the International Television Contest "The Nutcracker," and the International Grand Piano Competition in Moscow.

Dovgan has given recitals in venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam — as well as appearing alongside conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel and Paavo Järvi.

The internationally renowned Austrian pianist Rudolf Buchbinder is in charge of selecting the recipient of the Prix Serdang each year. He evaluates each candidate and selects a maximum of three young potential winners on the recommendation of international organizers, festival directors, conductors, and soloists.

"Alexandra Dovgan is an extraordinary young artist who has already had an impressive career at her young age," Buchbinder said. "She discovered her passion for music and playing the piano at an early age and was already a student at the Moscow Conservatory at the age of 5."

"With her incredible talent and hard work, she has developed into an outstanding pianist of her generation...with her technical brilliance, musical sensitivity and expressiveness, she inspires her audience again and again; her interpretations are characterized by a deep, emotional intensity and touch the hearts of the audience."

"I am profoundly moved and grateful to receive this prize in the enchanting Villa Serdang, presented by Rudolf Buchbinder, one of the greatest pianists of our time," Dovgan said. "This honor, awarded after a careful evaluation of my musicianship, fills me with a deep sense of responsibility and pride. The 'Prix Serdang' will undoubtedly be a cornerstone in my journey as a musician.”