The International Mozart Competition is one of the most prestigious music competitions worldwide and has been held biennially for over 50 years. Established in 1975, the competition focuses on the works of the genius loci Mozart, rediscovered through the interpretations of a young generation of highly talented musicians. With a distinctive festival character in the unique atmosphere of Salzburg, it traditionally features the categories of Voice, Piano, Violin, and String Quartet.
Artistic Director Vice Rector O.Univ.-Prof. Mag. Hannfried Lucke
Next Mozart Competition Piano and Violin February 2026
For many musicians, participation in the International Mozart Competition represents an important milestone and a springboard to an international artistic career, as evidenced by the impressive later achievements of former prizewinners such as Diana Damrau, Renée Fleming, Magdalena Kožená, Genia Kühmeier, Esther Hoppe, Thomas Zehetmair, and the Novus String Quartet.
Preliminary Round (Video Submission possible between 15th July and 15th September) piano or orchestral accompaniment permitted
Programme:
The first movement of one of the following violin concertos by W.A. Mozart (including cadenza):
Violin Concerto in D major, KV 218
Violin Concerto in A major, KV 219
A virtuoso piece of free choice (maximum duration: 10 minutes).
General Notes:
Works performed in the preliminary round may also be selected for the live competition.
The use of urtext editions is strongly recommended.
For works by W.A. Mozart, the use of the New Mozart Edition is expected: www.nma.at
All works (including the video round) must be performed from memory, except for the Mozart Violin Sonata in the first round, the sonatas by Beethoven, Janáček, or Lutosławski in the second round, and the commissioned work in the second round
Competition Rounds
First Round:
One of the following solo violin works by J.S. Bach (no repeats):
Partita in B minor, BWV 1002: Sarabande – Double + Tempo di Borea – Double
Sonata in A minor, BWV 1003: Grave + Fuga
Sonata in C major, BWV 1005: Adagio + Fuga
Partita in E major, BWV 1006: Preludio + Loure + Gavotte en Rondeau + Bourrée
One of the following solo caprices by N. Paganini (no repeats):
Caprice Op. 1, No. 1 in E major
Caprice Op. 1, No. 2 in B minor
Caprice Op. 1, No. 10 in G minor
Caprice Op. 1, No. 11 in C major
Caprice Op. 1, No. 15 in E minor
Caprice Op. 1, No. 17 in E-flat major
Caprice Op. 1, No. 23 in E-flat major
One of the following sonatas for violin and piano by W.A. Mozart (no repeats):
Six finalists competed for the coveted prizes in the vocal category at the 15th International Mozart Competition on February 16, 2023 in the Solitär of the Mozarteum University. The 1st prize goes to Santiago Valentín Sánchez Barbadora, the 2nd prize to Chelsea Marilyn Zurflüh, and the 3rd prize to Dániel Foki.
The first winners of the 15th International Mozart Competition have been announced. The 1st prize in the string quartet category and the traditional special prize of the Mozarteum Foundation for the best interpretation of a string quartet by W. A. Mozart go to the Arete Quartet, the 2nd prize to the Affinity Quartet and the 3rd prize to the Eden Quartet.
39 singers from 15 countries competed for the International Mozart Competition of the Universtiät Mozarteum in the vocal category from February 10 to 16, 2023. A program highlight was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the IGNM, which was celebrated in 2022. The final took place on February 16, 2023 in the Solitär.
Head of Pre-College / Personal Assistant to the Rector / Coordinator of the International Mozart Competition / Lecturer for orchestra didactics & ensemble
The prizewinner of the 15th International Mozart Competition Salzburg 2023 in the category voice are:
Santiago Valentín Sánchez Barbadora (Spanien)
Chelsea Marilyn Zurflüh (Schweiz)
Dániel Foki (Ungarn)
IGNM-Prize of €1,000 for the best interpretation of a contemporary work:
Anastasiia Churakova (Russland)
Boris Bakow Prize of €1,000 for the best interpretation of an aria in Italian:
Dániel Foki (Ungarn)
Prize awarded by the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg for the best interpretation of a vocal work by W. A Mozart, in the form of the Neue Mozart-Ausgabe (Bärenreiter-Verlag):
Yukari Fukui (Japan)
Bärenreiter Urtext Prize: three vouchers for sheet music, worth €300 each, sponsored by Bärenreiter Verlag:
Anna Tetruashvili (Israel)
Martina Russomanno (Italien)
Franziska Zwink (Deutschland)
Invitation to ARCO – Art, Research and Creation Opus 2023: ARCO is an international academy for contemporary composition and a cooperative project between the Mozarteum University Salzburg, the GMEM Marseille (Centre national de création musicale), and the French ensembles Les Métaboles, Ensembles Multilaterale and the Tana Quartet:
The prizewinners of the 15th International Mozart Competition Salzburg 2023, Category String Quartet, are:
1st Prize: Arete Quartet (South Korea) 2nd Prize: Affinity Quartet (Australia) 3rd Prize: Eden Quartet (South Korea)
IGNM Prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary work:
Affinity Quartet (Australia)
Prize for the best interpretation of a string quartet by W. A. Mozart:
Arete Quartet (South Korea)
Invitation to ARCO – Art, Research and Creation Opus 2023: ARCO is an international academy for contemporary composition and a cooperative project between the Mozarteum University Salzburg, the GMEM Marseille (Centre national de création musicale), and the French ensembles Les Métaboles, Ensembles Multilaterale and the Tana Quartet:
1st Prize: Ziyu He (China, b. 1999) 2nd Prize: Thomas Reif (Germany, b. 1991) 3rd Prize: Benjamin Marquise Gilmore (Netherlands, b. 1987)
Prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned violin work:
Ziyu He
Prize for the best interpretation of the Mozart Violin Concerto:
Ziyu He / Thomas Reif / Benjamin Marquise Gilmore
Jury:
Benjamin Schmid (Chair)
Kristina Busch (Assistant to the Jury)
Hans Graf
Esther Hoppe
Priya Mitchell
Gerhard Schulz
Matthias Schulz
Sergiu Schwartz
Piano:
1st Prize(Bösendorfer-Prize): Saskia Giorgini (Italy/Netherlands, b. 1985) 2nd Prize: Yoonhee Yang (South Korea, b. 1985) 3rd Prize: Julia Kociuban (Poland, b. 1992)
Prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned piano work:
Saskia Giorgini
Prize for the best interpretation of a Mozart piano concerto:
The Salzburg International Mozart Competition has been held in Salzburg since 1975. Until 2014, the competition was held every three to four years, since when has taken place biennially. The competition categories are voice, piano, violin, horn and string quartet, with the categories alternating from one year to the next, thus each category is represented every four years. In 2020, the category "horn" was included for the first time in the history of the Mozart Competition. The competition has been associated with the Fédération Mondiale des Concours Internationaux de Musique (FMCIM) since 1990.
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