Prizewinners of the 49th edition of Concertino Praga I.
Curriculum vitaes of prizewinners of the 49th edition of Concertino Praga 2015:
Bogdana Burin / Mihaela Petrova / Kalina Mincheva
Bogdana started to play the violin at the age of five. She is now studying with Blagorodna Taneva at Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music in Sofia. In 2013 she won the first prize at an international competition in German and Austrian music in Burgas, Bulgaria, and the third prize at an international competition for young musicians in Niš, Serbia. She has honed her skills in chamber music at master classes taught by Gavriela Lipkind and Dora Brachkova and has been granted a scholarship by the Claritas Foundation.
Mihaela began to play the piano at an early age. She is now studying with Anna Todorova at Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music in Sofia. She has won a gold medal and the first prize at a national competition called “Orpheus Gift”, an award at an international competition for young classical musicians in Pernik and at an international competition for young pianists in Gevgelija, Macedonia. She regularly attends master classes.
Kalina decided to be a musician at the age of eight. She took classes from Elka Stoevova in her home town and now she is studying with Blagorodna Taneva and Irina Stoyanova at Lyubomir Pipkov National School of Music in Sofia. She has won prizes at an international competition for young musicians in Pernik, at a national competition called “Orpheus Gift” and at national competitions in Rusa and Kazanlak. She regularly attends master classes.
What Kalina, Mihaela and Bogdana have mainly in common is their love of music but also the fact that they are all young, courageous and not afraid to try new things. They admire each other’s sense of friendship. As they say themselves: “Playing together shows us our common passion from different angles. It also helps us understand each other better.”
Related: Prizewinners of the 49th edition of Concertino Praga II.
Filip Zaykov / Adam Riethof / Martin Chudada
Adam began to play the flute when he was six and at the age of five he started to learn to play the clarinet at a primary school of art. He has been studying with Jan Hejhal at City of Prague Grammar School and Music School since 2010. He has won awards at many competitions: the Intenrational Clarinet Competition in Hořice, Bohuslav Martinů Competition in Polička, Concertino Praga 2014, etc. Besides classical music he is interested in jazz, plays the electric bass and the piano and likes improvising on all the instruments.
Filip began to play the violin at the age of five under the tutelage of Magdalena Micková. He is currently studying with Jiří Fišer at City of Prague Grammar School and Music School. He is also learning to play the piano with Peter Toperczer. He has won the Plzenecké housličky competition, Josef Muzika International Violin Competition, the International Kocián Violin Competition, etc.
Martin started playing the flute when he was five. At the age of six he began to learn to play the piano with Marek Bohunický at a primary school of art. He is now studying with Ivo Kahánek at Jižní Město Primary School of Art. He has won awards at international competitions in Italy, at Petr Toperczer International Competition and has been given the Slovak President’s prize for the best Slovak participant. He has also won a prize at the Broumovská klávesa competition and is a laureate of the Prague Conservatory Young Piano Competition.
What would they like to achieve as a trio? Adam says that, naturally, one would like to achieve as much as possible. “Right now I’m really looking forward to the Rudolfinum concert. And I would love to play abroad with this trio.“
Charlotte Kuffer / Max Vogler
Charlotte is studying with Professor Firkins at Lübeck University of Music. She has repeatedly won the competition Jugend musiziert and in 2012 she was given a prize connected with a scholarship granted by a German foundation, Musikleben. Her other achievements include a scholarship granted by another foundation, Marie-Luise Imbusch-Stiftung. In the summer of 2012 she was a guest soloist at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival. The next year she made her debut with the German Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg and at Mozart-Fest in Schwetzingen.
Max has been playing the oboe since 2008. He is studying at International Music Academy, which supports young talents, and has been granted a scholarship by a German foundation, Musikleben. He won first prizes in the competition Jugend musiziert in 2009, 2012, 2013 and 2014. He is a laureate of the competitions Lionswettbewerb and Friedrich von Flotow-Wettbewerb. He was given a special award at the WESPE competition. In 2012 he participated in two working stays in the Landesjugendorchester MV. In the summer of 2012 he played at the Moritzburg Festival as the youngest orchestra member. He has performed with the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock and at Mozart-Fest in Schwetzingen with the Heidelberger Philharmonie. Since 2012 he has been a Jürgen-Ponto-Stiftung scholarship holder.
They both agree: “When we play together, we are happy and we enjoy the cooperation. The idea of entering Concertino Praga came from both of us because we wanted to take part in an international competition as a duo. The first prize in this competition is a great step in our career. Being successful in our first international competition is simply terrific! It is also wonderful to have the opportunity to play on stage in Rudolfinum and go on a tour of South Bohemia. We would like to extend our repertoire by unusual compositions. We also play with a pianist and as a trio we want to take part in a German competition called ‘Jugend musiziert’ in June.”
Larisa Palochová / Matyáš Novák
Larisa began to play the violin at the age of five. She is currently a pupil of Dana Vlachová at Primary School of Art in Jižní Město. She has won many competitions: the National Primary School Violin Contest, Josef Muzika International Violin Competition, Jaroslav Kocian International Violin Competition, the Primary School Competition in Chamber Music, the piano contest Prague Junior Note, etc. She has repeatedly played as a soloist with the Virtuosi Pragenses and performs as a member of different chamber ensembles and in orchestras.
This is what Larisa says about her interests: “Once a week I attend a painting course. In the rest of my free time I like swimming and skiing.
Matyáš began to play the piano when he was five years old. He is a student at a grammar school in Hradec Králové and he is also studying at Pardubice Conservatory with Jitka Fowler Fraňková and at the famous piano academy Incontri col Maestro with Vovka Ashkenazy. He also takes piano improvisation and composition lessons from Jiří Pazour. He has won the International Piano Competition Pro Bohemia, the international competitions Amadeus, Prague Junior Note, etc. He has performed as a soloist with the Brno Philharmonic, the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice, the Quattro Chamber Orchestra and the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra. He participates in both national and international music festivals.
Matyáš’s passion is poultry breeding. “My stud currently comprises about a hundred head of poultry of eight breeds, which include the Dresdner, Altsteier, Lakenfelder, Leghorn, Marans, Booted Bantam, Araucana and Vorwerk.
