Graz honors Anna Kull with competition

The Anna Kull International Cello Competition is positioned as a youth competition and is to be held every two years for three age groups (in 2020 the years 2000 to 2006), alternating between the instruments violincello and violin. Its first edition will take place from February 10 to 22, 2020 at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.

In three rounds, which are open to the public, 95 young talents from 30 nations will face an international jury over the course of these 12 days, which is prominently staffed with Julian Arp, David Geringas, Monika Leskovar, Milos Mlejnik, Gergely Mohl, Ditta Rohmann, Wen-Sinn Yang and Anke Schittenhelm (chair).

Anna Kull was born on October 21, 1841 in Klausenburg (then Transylvania, now Cluj-Napoca in Romania) and grew up in an aristocratic and musical family in Switzerland. It is assumed that she received her first lessons, alongside her father, from the Swiss cellist Adam Schleich in Zurich and from 1855 from the solo cellist of the Munich court orchestra, Hippolyt Müller. Due to her musical talent, she played numerous concerts throughout Europe at a young age, both as a soloist and as a chamber musician. She died in Trento (Italy) in 1923 at the age of 82. She bequeathed her instrument to the city of Graz.