Winners Announced at Gianni Bergamo Classic Music Award's Chamber Music Competition

The Velvet Quartet has won the award’s 2024 edition alongside a €12,000 cash prize

Named for Gianni Bergamo and based in Lugano, Switzerland, the  Gianni Bergamo Classic Music Award's Chamber Music Competition was created to discover and encourage emerging artists in the varying sectors of classical music.

The competition is open cyclically each year to composition, instrument/voice, and chamber music. This year’s edition for chamber music has awarded its €12,000 first prize to the Velvet Quartet. 

Comprising violinists Ezgi Su Apaydin and Laura Muskare, violist Patricia Gomez Carretero, and cellist Frederick Winterson, the Velvet Quartet was founded in 2020. They have since been mentored by Harald Schoneweg, Alfred Brendel, Bruno Giuranna, Quatuor Ébène, and Modigliani Quartet, among others.

The group was the first-prize winner at the Köhler-Osbahr Chamber Music Competition, and the third-prize winner at the International Competition “Zukunfstklang Award,” and is currently enrolled in the Chamber Music Master’s program with Andreas Reiner at the Folkwang University of the Arts.

Second prize with €8,000 went to Quartetto Werther, while the €5,000 third prize was jointly awarded to the Davidoff Trio from Germany and Trio Sheliak from Italy. 

The 2024 jury comprised Gianni Bergamo Jürg Dähler, Roberto Plano, Felix Renggli, and Bruno Weinmeister.