Promoting young talent

The annual scholarship competition of the Kalaidos University of Music took place on November 13, 2023. This year, the prizes of the annual Istvan Kertész Competition were awarded at the same time. The two funding instruments recognize outstanding young artists and complement the services of the Kalaidos Scholarship Fund, which supports students in difficult financial situations.

Students from all degree programs at Kalaidos University of Music were invited to give an approximately twenty-minute performance of pieces in various styles in order to qualify for the scholarships and prizes. From current pop compositions to organ music, a wide variety of pieces, interpretations and very personal styles could be heard on this concert day. 

Students from the jazz and pop department performed in a band with vocals, piano, drums and bass; students from the classical department played violin, cello, piano, organ, flute and guitar. Experts were invited for each instrument to judge the performances of the individual students. Of course, it was not easy for the jury to award the scholarships and prizes - they had to  We were able to compare many excellent performances of different styles and instrument groups and to highlight some of them.

The scholarships from the Kalaidos University of Music went to the following young artists:

• Alexander Argirov, who has just completed his teacher training and started further training in classical singing at the Kalaidos University of Music, impressed the jury with his warm, sonorous voice and expressive text presentation;
• Zhang Zhixin, who will soon be completing his bachelor's degree in violin performance, impressed the audience with his diverse tonal colors and virtuoso ease in compositions by Gabriel Fauré and Henryk Wienawski;
• and the not yet twenty-year-old Inessa Kulmer, who is studying for a Master's degree in Performance Violin and performed compositions by Johann Sebastian Bach, Camille Saint-Saëns and Claude Debussy with a great variety of colors, exhausting the possibilities of her instrument from the softest breath to fireworks of chords. 
• A sponsorship award went to the singer Katharina Deierlein, the pianist Riccardo Venanzi and the percussionist Wenbiao Yuan, who sang about lovesickness in a small, fine concert program ranging from 1920s swing to lively original compositions.
• In addition to the scholarships, the prizes of the Kértesz competition were also awarded:

First prize went to pianist Zeyu Zhao, who is studying for a Master's degree and impressed the jury with his virtuoso ease in his interpretation of a work by Chopin. The second prize was shared by cellist Selin Demirel, who performed compositions by Ahmed Adnan Saygun and Edouard Lalo with a wonderful sound and wide-ranging phrasing, and pianist Ruben Russo, who interpreted a composition by Brahms with a great variety of dynamic and agogic shaping. The organist Marie Königsbeck, who presented a clear polyphony and a varied registration, was awarded third prize. The Swiss prize went to violinist Elisabeth Kulmer, who shone with great virtuosity and technical precision.

After this day, we program directors are proud to be able to accompany all of these extraordinary artists in their careers. We know from our own experience what great commitment, perseverance and creative energy musicians need to learn a musical instrument from an early age, to spend countless hours perfecting technique and musical interpretation and to persevere through all obstacles, not least financial ones, to be enthusiastic about music and to share this enthusiasm with an audience. Our love of music sometimes makes us forget the great effort that goes into doing everything for a profession.
which in most cases is associated with precarious working conditions.

We are delighted to be able to financially support the work of these young artists and hope that our work will help these young musicians to continue to develop in their own individual style and to continue to infect their audiences with their enthusiasm for music and enchant them with their richness of expression - after all, we have learned in recent years that, especially in moments of uncertainty and fear of the future, deeply felt artistic expression and the commitment of a young generation can give us strength and hope to face the future more optimistically and perhaps turn it into something positive.