The overall winner of Concertino Praga 2019 is Czech Pianist
On Thursday February 7th and Friday February 8th, an international jury of experts chose the winners of the 53rd annual Concertino Praga radio competition. This year, the competition had been announced in the category of solo string instruments – pianos, violins, cellos and for the first time also harps.
It was a hard job for the jury to choose the winners of Concertino Praga 2019. The competitors represented 12 countries: Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, and Ukraine. Czech Republic was represented by five young musicians.
The young musicians’ performances were assessed by the following jury members: Doris Blaich (Producer at German public radio SWR2), Michael Frischenschlager (violin, Austria), Holger Hettinger (Head of Music at Deutschlandfunk Kultur in Berlin), Lydie, Härtelová (harp), Lukáš Klánský (piano), Tomáš Strašil (cello) a Marek Valášek (conductor).
The overall winner is the pianist Jan Čmejla from the Czech Republic. Jan Čmejla will have a profile CD released by Czech Radio and will also receive the financial prize of 1 000 EUR.
„Even though I was ready to hear great performances by the contestants, I was really surprised how the winners of individual categories played: these were incredibly mature performances, perfect in all respects. One cannot even believe that the contestants are sixteen years old or less...“ says the head of the jury, harpist Lydie Härtelová.
From left: Holger Hettinger, Tomáš Strašil, Lydie Härtelová, Doris Blaich, Michael Frischenschlager, Marek Valášek, Lukáš Klánský
The following prizes were awarded in the PIANO category:
- prize Jan Čmejla (Czech Republic)
- prize Eliška Tkadlčíková (Czech Republic)
Honorable mention: Eva Garet (Romania), Gabriela Bortnowska (Poland)
The following prizes were awarded in the VIOLIN category:
- prize Wiktor Dziedzic (Poland)
- prize Lora Markova (Bulgaria)
Honorable mention Sofiia Yakovenko (Rusko), Maria Dueňas (Rakousko), Klára Erdingerová (Czech Republic)
The following prizes were awarded in the CELLO category:
- prize Syon Najman (Bulgaria)
- prize Mariia Slashcheva (Russian Federation)
Honorable mention Thomas Prechal (Nizozemí), Konstancja Smietanska (Poland)
The following prizes were awarded in the HARP category:
- prize Aleksandra Arsenova (Russian Federation)
- prize Yelyzaveta Rakovska (Ukraine)
Honorable mention Jernej Mišič (Slovenia), Martin Sadílek (Czech Republic), Victoria Markova (Bulgaria)
The winners will be proving their skills during the laureates’ concert at Dvořák´s Hall of the Rudolfinum, June 9 2019 (Prague). The concert will be followed by the traditional South Bohemian Concertino Praga Festival, which is taking place from June 10 to June 16, 2019 and consists of four concerts in concert halls and castles of South Bohemian towns.
Complete results can be seen in the attached document:
