Winners of the 2026 Concorso Hindemith and the Concorso Mainardi

Since 2010, these competitions, which are accompanied by high-calibre masterclasses and concerts, have enriched university life. Held in alternating years with the Ruggiero Ricci Violin Competition, they provide students with a prestigious platform to showcase their artistry before an international jury of distinguished musicians.

Since 2020, the viola competition has borne the name of Paul Hindemith, honouring both his pioneering role as a violist and his 60-year honorary membership of Mozarteum University Salzburg.

We warmly congratulate this year's prizewinners on their outstanding achievements.

Prizewinners Concorso Hindemith (Viola)

• 1^st Prize: Ruby Shirres (student of German Tcakulov)
• 2^nd Prize: Junwei Zhang (student of William Coleman)
• 3^rd Prize: Henriette Brunner (student of German Tcakulov)

Prizewinners Concorso Mainardi (Violoncello)

• 1^st Prize (ex aequo): Shicong Li & Jeremias Luther (both students of Clemens Hagen)
• 2^nd Prize: Noah Oshiro (student of Giovanni Gnocchi)
• 3^rd Prize: Leonard Razboršek (student of Giovanni Gnocchi)

Prizes for Outstanding Interpretations of Contemporary Works

In addition to the main prizes, special awards were presented for outstanding interpretations of major twentieth-century works:

• Prize for the Interpretation of the Sonata by Dmitri Shostakovich: Lucas Muramoto (student of Enrico Bronzi)
• Prize for the Interpretation of the Sonata by Alfred Schnittke: Jaehyun Kim (student of Enrico Bronzi)

Artistic inspiration from the jury

A key element of the competition concept is the direct exchange with leading figures from the international music world. This year's jurors – Raphaela Gromes, Konstanze von Gutzeit, Françoise Gnéri and Louise Lansdown – not only gave masterclasses but also performed in a jury concert on 21 May in the Solitär. The programme featured both masterpieces and rarely performed works from the viola and cello repertoire.