Kobekina honored with Bernstein Prize
The Russian cellist Anastasia Kobekina has been honored with the Leonard Bernstein Award at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. She performed the award ceremony concert together with the Basel Chamber Orchestra.
The jury of the Young Talent Award praised Kobekina's virtuosity and her special expression: she combines technical skill with warmth of heart. Last but not least, "the playful ease with which she moves through different stylistic periods" was convincing.
The Leonard Bernstein Award is endowed with 10,000 euros. Previous recipients include Lang Lang, Martin Grubinger, Alisa Weilerstein, Krzystof Urbánski, Isata Kanneh-Mason and, most recently, Vivi Vassileva.
Kobekina had made headlines in Switzerland in 2022 because she was uninvited at short notice by the Ittingen Charterhouse for a concert that had already been announced because she is Russian and no Russian artists were programmed for the Ittingen Sunday concerts due to the "controversy surrounding the appearance of Russian artists in current world events in general".
