We know our finalists: Eight young talents are heading to Prague.

15. květen 2025
Concertino Praga hlasování|foto:Petra Hajská

The Concertino Praga – Antonín Dvořák International Radio Competition for Young Musicians has its finalists for 2025. Eight exceptionally talented young musicians, who were chosen from the almost sixty entrants from Europe, Asia and America, have progressed to the final.

The jury assessed a total of 59 competitors in two instrumental categories: string and keyboard instruments and wind instruments. The jury members from the ranks of leading Czech performers and teachers met on 4–8 May 2025.

The finalists in Concertino Praga 2025

Solo category I (string and keyboard instruments):

Matvejs Fokins (Latvia) – piano

Yeonah Kim (South Korea) – violin

Darin Lambrev (Bulgaria) – violoncello

Viktor Stocker (Czech Republic) – accordion

“This year of the Concertino Praga competition has confirmed the fact that the performance level among young musicians has increased incredibly. And not only from the point of view of their excellent technical mastery of highly demanding compositions, but also their remarkable musical maturity and the breadth of the repertoire convincingly mastered by the competitors despite their youth. It is a pity that only four competitors can progress to the final as I could imagine several others also participating in this category,“ said the pianist Karel Košárek.

The music director Petr Strejc stated that “It is also worth mentioning the wide range of instruments. I was personally pleased to see the involvement of harps, accordions and violas.

All that remains is to wish all the participants perseverance in the coming years and to hope that music will continue to accompany them along the way.”

Solo Category II (wind instruments):

“This year, I was pleasantly surprised by the high level of the wind instrument entries. It was extremely difficult to assess them, as the point differences between them were minimal,” said the horn player Jan Vobořil.

The flautist Žofie Vokálková appreciated the variety of instruments: “This year, I was very pleased by the participation of less common “competition” instruments such as the saxophone, oboe and bassoon. Moreover, they were at an excellent level. I also greatly appreciate the balanced level and quality of the trumpeters.”

“Recording an almost half-hour program without any edits is a challenge even for experienced professionals. The competitors not only demonstrated their musical quality, but also incredible discipline and concentration,” added the clarinettist Karel Dohnal.

Each of the finalists will perform a concerto at a public concert accompanied by an orchestra. Their performances will be assessed by the finale jury which will decide on the awarding of the financial scholarships. In addition, the winner will also receive the opportunity to make a professional recording at Czech Radio.

Two substitutes have also been named based on the point-based evaluation and, even if they do not play at the actual finale, they will receive the opportunity to play at the Dvořák Prague Talent Stage festival:

The special prizes for 2025

  • The Karel Komárek Family Foundation prize for the best Czech participant: Viktor Stocker (Accordion)

  • The Bohuslav Martinů Institute Prize: Chantal Ramona Veit (Flute)

  • The Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Foundation Prize: Matvejs Fokins (Piano)

Final Concerts in September

  • 12th September 2025 – Final of Category II (Wind Instruments): Bethlehem Chapel, Prague

  • 13th September 2025 – Final of Category I (Piano and String Instruments): Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, Prague

Both concerts will take place as part of the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival. Czech Radio’s Vltava Station will offer a live broadcast of both the finale and the laureates’ concert at the Concertino Praga South Bohemian Festival in Písek. The other concerts will be broadcast as recordings.

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