Boris Pergamenshikov Prize Announces Winners

First prize and €10,000 award went to piano trio Ensemble N

The 2022 Boris Pergamenshikov Prize for Contemporary Chamber Music is administered by Berlin's Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler." This year's winner is the Viennese chamber music group Ensemble N, consisting of Paolo Vuono (violin), Irini Liu (cello), and Luca Lavuri (piano).

The group received a cash prize of €10,000, as well as a grant of €3,000 to go towards a new commissioned work.

Awarded triennially, the prize is given in memory of cellist and teacher Boris Pergamenschikov (1948-2004), a strong advocate for contemporary music who taught for many years at Hanns Eisler.

The competition encourages young ensembles to get to know a wide range of new music. One unique feature is that each group must give an oral presentation on the works they perform so that the other participants might learn a generous amount of new repertoire.

Founded in 2018 at Vienna's University of Music and the Performing Arts, Ensemble N originally consisted of six players and was formed specifically to promote and perform contemporary music — especially that of young composers.

Second Prize of €4,000 went to Trio Orelon and Third Prize of €2,000 to the Trio Glenn Gould. A one-off special prize of €2,000 to recognize an up-and-coming ensemble was awarded to the Percaso Quartet.