Joshua Brown (USA, *1999) is the winner of this year’s International Violin Competition Leopold Mozart in Augsburg. With the First Prize (Mozart-Prize) he receives € 20.000 and and a CD production supported and produced by Evil Penguin Records.
Born in 1999 Joshua Brown received glowing reviews for his debut performance with the Cleveland Orchestra at the age of fifteen. He has gone on to play with dozens of orchestras for which he has garnered continued praise from critics, has performed in concert halls on three continents, and has won top prizes in many international competitions. A recipient of the Stradivari Society, Joshua plays on a 1679 Pietro Guarneri violin. He studied with Almita Vamos for the last five years, and currently studies with Donald Weilerstein at NEC.
Joshua_Brown & Artistic Director Linus Roth
(c) Christian Menkel
Karisa Chiu (USA, *1999) won Second Prize (endowed with € 12.000) and Third Prize winner (€ 9.000) is Kaoru Oe from Japan, born 1994.
Joshua Brown, Karisa Chiu & Kaoru Oe
(c) Christian Menkel
Following special prize winners were announced as well:
Special Prize Kronberg Academy, a scholarship for the active participation in a master class at the Kronberg Academy is donated to Joshua Brown.
He is also winning the Special Prize by Jury Chairman Benjamin Schmid: a recital with piano at the International Chamber Music Festival Kempten 2019.
The Special Prize for best interpretation of the contemporary composition Soleos by Elzbieta Sikora goes to Kaoru Oe.
Special price from the Critics Jury is given to Simon Wiener from Switzerland, who didn’t make it to the finals. He wins a Violin case from Negri Cases. The critics Anna Picard, Remy Franck and Jens Laurson say in a statement:
« It has been a pleasure to hear 24 talented young violinists perform at the Leopold Mozart Violin Competition. As the critics among the members of jury, we are privileged to bestow a Critics’ Prize to one participant.
Hearing the musicians we were faced with a fascinating variety of ways in which a performance can be persuasive and enlightening. Not all of these qualities are necessarily those that ensure success in a traditional competition situation. This is where the Leopold Mozart Competition comes in: its uniquely varied repertoire and the diverse composition of its jury open up opportunities by which musicians less conventionally suited to competitions can thrive.
Honorary mention, as an exemplar of that approach, should be made of the semi-finalist Issei Kurihara, whose internality, quiet confidence, subtle touches, and distinct individuality did much to suggest great and intriguing depth.
Our choice for the Critics’ Prize also combines many qualities and great hopes that pricked our ears in special ways. His consummate passion for conversing through music, his musical and expressive intelligence, his unique approach to the composers and his choice of repertoire made him an easy choice to rally around. We look forward to hearing much more of him in the future as we confer the Critics’ Prize to Simon Wiener. »
The Audience Prize will be announced on 8 June 2019 at the Prizewinners’ Concert.
