Mayumi Kanagawa from the United States of America has won the George Enescu International Competition 2024, Violin Section, after a Final in which she performed Camille Saint-Saens' Concerto No. 3 in B minor for violin and orchestra op. 61, accompanied by the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of conductor Alan Buribayev.

Second Prize winner Hyeonjeong Lee (13 years old, South Korea) performed Johannes Brahms' Concerto in D major for violin and orchestra op. 77 while Third Prize winner Wakana Kimura (21 years old, Japan) performed Concerto No. 2 for violin and orchestra Sz. 112 by Bela Bartok, ARTEXIM informed on Tuesday.

The jury of the 19th edition of the George Enescu International Competition Violin Section was made of violinists Dmitry Sitkovetsky (president), Mihaela Martin, Liviu Prunaru, Silvia Marcovici, Shlomo Mintz, Boris Garlitsky, David Halen and managers Doug Sheldon and Benjamin Schwartz.

The first prize of the 19th edition of the George Enescu International Competition is worth 15,000 euros net, the second prize 10,000 euros net and the third prize 5,000 euros net. Also, the winners of the George Enescu International Competition 2024 will be offered the chance to perform at the 2025 and 2026 editions of the George Enescu Festival and George Enescu International Competition, as well as in concerts organised during the seasons of the philharmonic orchestras nationwide.

The trophies of the Enescu Competition 2024, offered to the three young violinists, are made by the artist Mihai Bancila.

Three special awards were also presented at the Gala:

The Stefan and Valentin Gheorghiu Award for the best interpretation of a Sonata by George Enescu, worth 3,000 euros net, was won by Mayumi Kanagawa.

The Award for the best performance of the required work - B.A.C.H., Passacaglia for solo violin by Vlad Maistorovici, worth 2,000 euros net, went to Hyeonjeong Lee.

The Audience Award, worth 1,000 euros net, was won by Hyeonjeong Lee.

*Mayumi Kanagawa, a Japanese-American violinist based in Berlin, is praised for her rich, dark sound and focused, engaging musicality, and has established herself as a versatile and refined soloist and chamber musician.

She has performed with many orchestras, including the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Belgian National Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, in repertoire ranging from Bach to Britten and Berg. Her talent has brought her to many outreach programmes and schools around the world, from San Francisco to Novosibirsk.

She is currently an ambassador for El Sistema Japan's new Ribbon project, bringing instruments and music education to children in the foster care system. She currently performs on a 1725 Wilhelmj Antonio Stradivarius violin, generously loaned by the Nippon Music Foundation.

*Hyeonjeong Lee, a remarkable young violinist, was born in December 2010. She is a student of Professor Sunny Lee at the Seoul Central Conservatory.

She started playing the violin at the age of 6 and made her debut with her first recital at Yeongsan Yangjae Hall at the age of 9. She proudly won the 1st prize as the youngest person in the 2022 Leonid Kogan International Competition for Young Violinists. In the same year, she also won the overall grand prize and a scholarship at the Rising Stars Grand Prix International Music Competition Berlin.

In 2023, she gave her first overseas debut recital at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg at the invitation of the New Jersey Sinfonietta.
Recently, she has successfully performed with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (2024), the Seoul Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra (2023) and the GIMPO Philharmonic Orchestra (2021).

*Wakana Kimura was born on May 3, 2001 in Takarazuka, Japan. She began playing the violin at the age of 4. At the age of 16 she received further training from Professor Mauro Iurato in Italy.

In 2018 and 2019 she took part in the Forum Musikae International Academy in Madrid, the International Summer Academy Universitat Mozarteum (2018) and the International Music Academy Orpheus (2017, 2019). Since 2021 she is studying violin with Professor Lothar Strauss and since 2022 chamber music with Professor Stefan Mendl at the Universitat fur Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien.

Among the competitions she attended are: All Japan Student Music Competition, High School Students of Osaka division, 3rd prize (2018); Antonio Vivaldi International Competition, 2nd prize (2019); finalist and recipient of the Thomann Prize at the CIMA Central International Music Academy in Vienna (2019); Forum Musikae International Academy Competition, 1st place (2019); 41st International Violin Competition Premio Rodolfo Lipizer, 2nd place (2022); Stefanie Hohl Competition, 1st place (2023).

The George Enescu International Competition, initiated in 1958, is one of the most important events of its kind in the world, offering young musicians a platform for international affirmation. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Popescu, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - editor: Adina Panaitescu)