Promotional prizes
We would like to thank all those who have made it possible and continue to make it possible to award sponsorship prizes and scholarships to promising young musicians.
When the Casals Forum opened at the 2022 Kronberg Festival, a new Kronberg Academy tradition was born: the annual presentation of the Pablo Casals Award – For a better world, initiated by Cologne-based asset management company Flossbach von Storch. Every year, the prize will be awarded to an artist who has shown exceptional social commitment.
The great cellist Pablo Casals (1876–1973) was a passionate advocate of peace. He lived by the maxim that art and humanity are inseparable. Seine Lebensmaxime lautete: Kunst und Menschlichkeit sind untrennbar. He not only embodied this principle through his own life, he called on all musicians “to place the purity of their art at the service of humanity”. The self-image of the Kronberg Academy Foundation is derived from Pablo Casals’s approach: artists bear responsibility towards music, people and the planet.
Presentation of the prize is designed to support and encourage artists to follow the example set by Pablo Casals, and thereby act as inspiring role models for future generations.
The award carries prize money of €10,000, which is intended to support the project led by the winning artist. Any commitment or project honoured with the Pablo Casals sponsorship award should have recognisably great potential, to ensure that the prize money is used effectively.
The jury for the Pablo Casals Award – For A Better World is predominantly made up of members of the Kronberg Academy Foundation’s Artistic Council: Marta Casals Istomin, Christoph Eschenbach, Gidon Kremer, Sir András Schiff and chairman Raimund Trenkler. They are supported in this by the “Artists for a Better Future” initiative launched by Christoph Poppen.
Prizewinners 2022:
The artist couple Marie-Elisabeth Hecker (cello) and Martin Helmchen (piano) for their project "Music Road Rwanda". Their project promotes the development of musical life in Rwanda.
Prizewinner 2023:
The pianist Lars Vogt (1970-2022) receives the prize posthumously for his "Rhapsody in School" initiative.
Prizewinner 2024:
Jennifer Stumm for her artist collective "Ilumina" - an initiative for social justice based in São Paulo.
The Landgrave of Hesse Prize is a traditional sponsorship prize of €5,000, which is awarded to an active participant at the end of the Cello Masterclasses. The prize was founded in 1994 by Margaret Princess of Hesse and by Rhine († 1997). It is intended to be awarded to a particularly promising cello talent to promote their further musical development.
Prizewinners:
Petar Pejčić and Jieon Lee (2024)
Michael Song and Carlos Vidal Ballester (2022)
Brannon Cho and Aleksey Shadrin (2020)
Elia Cohen-Weissert and Erica Piccotti (2018)
Jonathan Roozeman and Zlatomir Fung (2016)
Laura van der Heijden and Maciej Kułakowski (2014)
Matthew Allen and Andrei Ioniţă (2012)
Anastasia Kobekina (2010)
Ha Young Choi and Dai Miyata (2008)
Leonard Elschenbroich (2006)
Nicolas Altstaedt and Giorgi Kharadze (2004)
Thomas Carroll and Julian Steckel (2002)
Bong-Ihn Koh (2000)
Kee-Hyun Kim and Tatjana Vassilieva (1998)
Edvardas Armonas and Denis Krotov (1996)
Claudio Bohórquez and Oren Shevlin (1994)
The Boris Pergamenschikow Scholarship, which is worth €400 a month, is awarded to a young cellist over a period of two years to fund expenses incurred in the furtherance of his or her cultural and intellectual development. The scholarship is awarded once every two years at the Cello Masterclasses.
Recipients:
Arne Zeller (2024–2026)
Philipp Schupelius (2022–2024)
Luca Giovannini (2021–2023)
Ivan Karizna (2018–2020)
Aleksey Shadrin (2016–2018)
Lizi Ramishvili (2014–2016)
Anastasia Kobekina (2012–2014)
István Várdai (2010–2012)
Gabriel Schwabe (2008–2010)
Julian Steckel (2006–2008)
Julian Arp (2004–2006)
The Prince of Hesse Prize is the counterpart to the Landgrave of Hesse Prize, which has been presented to a young cellist at the end of the Cello Masterclasses since 1994. It has been awarded since 2009 to a young violinist at the end of the Violin Masterclasses. The promotional prize, which is worth €5,000, is conferred on a young musician who has stood out during the masterclasses on account of his or her “special musical ability, special perceptive insight, talent and hard work and hence recognisably great artistic potential”.
Prizewinners:
Seohyun Kim und Sueye Park (2023, prize shared)
Geneva Lewis und Javier Comesaña (2021, prize shared))
Ririko Noborisaka and Yamen Saadi (2019, prize shared)
Dmytro Udovychenko and María Dueñas (2017, prize shared)
Shuichi Okada and Lara Boschkor (2015, prize shared)
Tanja Zhou and Joakim Røbergshagen (2013, prize shared)
Anna Lee and Benjamin Beilman (2011, prize shared)
Hyeyoon Park and Guro Kleven Hagen (2009, prize shared)
The Jürgen Frei Music Foundation in Bad Soden awards this promotional prize worth €5,000 to one of the active participants in the Violin Masterclasses who is chosen by the teachers. The prize – named after Manfred Grommek, who lived in Bad Soden and died in 2007 – should preferably be conferred on “a young musician at the start of his or her musical career with recognisably great development potential”.
Prizewinners:
Julian Rhee and Joshua Brown (2023, prize shared)
Carla Marrero Martínez und Anna Agafia Egholm (2021, prize shared)
Clara Shen and Gyurim Kwak (2019, prize shared)
Niek Baar and Tatjana Roos (2017, prize shared)
Mahiru Moriyama and Daniel Lozakovitj (2015, prize shared)
Ui Youn Hong and Alexi Kenney (2013, prize shared)
Ekatarina Frolova and Arata Yumi (2011, prize shared)
Manfred Grommek-Sonderpreise
Prizewinners:
Leonhard Baumgartner, Wassili Wohlgemuth, Georgii Moroz and Leonard Toschev (2023, prize shared)
With these three sponsorship awards for violin, viola and cello, Kronberg Academy pays tribute Ana Chumachenco, Nobuko Imai and Frans Helmerson for their outstanding lifelong service as a teacher and purveyor of the highest musical values. Special thanks go to their long and successful work at Kronberg Academy. The prizes will be awarded every two years to particularly promising young talents under the age of 27.
Ana Chumachenco Award 5.000 Euro (financed by Marianne and Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Kraatz)
since 2015
Prizewinners:
Clara Neubauer and SongHa Choi (2023, prize shared)
Kaori Furusawa and Vassily Chmykov (2021, prize shared)
Mon-Fu Lee Hsu and Shihan Wang (2019, prize shared)
Lara Boschkor and Carla Inés Marrero Martínez (2017, prize shared)
Kaoru Oe (2015)
Nobuko Imai Award 5.000 Euro (financed by Dr. Fabian von Schlabrendorff and Hitomi Ono)
since 2023
Prizewinners:
Noga Shaham and Sào Soulez Larivière (2023, prize shared)
Frans Helmerson Award 5.000 Euro (financed by Hanna Lange)
since 2016
Prizewinners:
Ella Wimbiscus and Tae-Yeon Kim (2024, prize shared)
Luka Coetzee and Petar Pejčić (2022, prize shared)
Birgitta Elisa Oftestad and Yuki Sayama (2018, prize shared)
Min Ji Kim and Yoonsoo Yeo (2016, prize shared)
This sponsorship award, endowed with €2,500 by the Bad Sodener Musikstiftung Jürgen Frei (BSM), provides support to a student at Kronberg Academy. The prize is presented every two years at a Prize Winners’ Concert held by the music foundation, in which the recipient gives a solo performance. More information can be found at www.musikstiftung.de