Teilnehmer

Valerie Bai was born in Hong Kong and lives in Massachusetts, USA. Valerie started learning violin at the age of 4, and she has performed and won in various local and international competitions, including Grand Prize of 9th International Music Competition « Nouvelles étoiles » 2024, the Winner of the Boston Youth Symph Repertory Orchestra Concerto Competition 2023 (3rd movement of Violin Concerto in G Minor by Max Bruch), Winner of Rivers’ Concerto Competition 2023 (Junior Division – 1st Movement of Violin Concerto in C major by Joseph Haydn), The International Music Competition „Grand Prize Virtuoso“ in Salzburg, Austria; 1st Prize at 2022 Massachusetts Bay State String Competition (Elementary level);1st Prize winner of International Music Competition Paris in 2022, 1st prize winner at 2022-2023 American Virtuoso International Music Competition Winter Edition (Music in the 20th and 21st Century Period), 1st Prize at the 2022 Opus Music Competition (Primary Level String) for Massachusetts 2022; 2nd Prize at 2022 Opus National Music Competition (Primary Level String), 2nd Prize winner of Vienna International Arnold Rose Violin Competition 2023 (Category A, 8-10 years old), 2nd Prize winner at International Artists Competition (12 and under), Second Place Winner at the 2023 American Music Talent Competition for extraordinary and inspiring performances, 2nd Prize recipient of Rivers School the Richter String Competition 2022 (Elementary level), and 3rd Prize winner of PIMF Online Virtual Concerto Competition Spring 2023 (Division 1)

Valerie made her orchestral debut at eight years old when she performed the 1st movement of Joseph Haydn’s Violin Concerto in C major with Rivers Symphony after winning the Rivers’ Concerto Competition 2023 (Junior Division). Valerie also plays violin for orchestra and chamber groups. She was accepted to Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Young People’s String Orchestra at the age of six and got accepted to Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra’s Junior Repertory Orchestra in September 2022, becoming one of the youngest students accepted to the full Orchestra at BYSO.

Along with playing violin, Valerie enjoys playing piano, figure skating, and composing music. Valerie has been studying music composition with Professor Alla Cohen since age six. She has been awarded an honorable mention for the MTNA’s (Music Teacher National Association) music composition competition in 2022. She premiered her piano composition, “Story of Little Lisa,” at Rivers Contemporary Music Seminar in March 2023.

Jayda Lu, a 12-year-old violinist from Australia, first introduced to the violin when she was just four and a half years old. Since then, she has been guided by her mentor, Professor Robin Wilson from 2019. In 2023, she embarked on a new chapter in her musical journey by joining the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin Music School with her teacher.

Jayda has participated in various national and international music festivals and competitions, where she has achieved notable success. She was honored to receive 3rd place in the Violin Group A category at the 4th Zhuhai International Mozart Competition in 2022, and similarly, secured 3rd place at IL Piccolo Violino Magico in 2023.

Jayda is passionate about music and is dedicated to honing her skills as a violinist. She aspires to continue her musical journey, exploring new avenues for growth and excellence in the world of classical music.

Maelys Lauriac, 13-year-old violinist, born in Paris, started playing the violin at the age of 6 in the Francis Poulenc Conservatory in Paris with Mrs. Rodica Bogdanas and Mrs. Sophia Goloboff. She continued her studies with Mrs. Arielle Gill, at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris. Since September 2023, Maelys has been in the Specialized Cycle at the CRR in Paris. Maelys participated in „Prodiges“ the show of France 2 Television at the age of 11 in 2021. Maelys is regularly invited to perform as a soloist.

• Young Talented Concert in Paris – 2023
• 1st special prize at the Flame Competition – 2023
• 1st prize and the audience prize at the Marie Cantagril International Violin Competition – 2022
• 1st Prize at the France Musique Competition (France Musique Competition) – 2022
• 1st prize at the Flame Competition – 2021
• 1st prize at the Prodige Art Competition (Vatelot Rampal) – 2020

Raelene (2014) was born in The Hague into an Indonesian family. At the age of five, she started her violin lesson with Elise ten Westenend at the School for Young Talent at Royal Conservatoire The Hague. Since she was seven years old, she has been playing in the Atheneum Chamber Orchestra (AKO) Junior. 

At the national competitions, Raelene won the De Muziekwedstrijd prize in 2022 and the second prize in Jong Talent Concours Maassluis 2024. She loves to play music together with her brother and in August 2023 they were invited to play at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia. She had masterclasses from Ilona Sie Dhian Ho and Shunske Sato.

Raelene loves playing piano, drawing, and crafting in her spare time. This year she will go to secondary school and she is looking forward to a more exciting musical journey

Vlada Pidhirna was born in 2008 in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. At the age of 5 she moved to
Kyiv and learnt the violin there. She attended the Kyiv Lycenko State Music Lyceum from 2014 to 2022, majoring in violin with her teacher Oleksandra Savchenko. During this period she played
various concerts. She has lived in Erfurt since April 2022 and attends the Schloss Belvedere Music High School in Weimar, where she takes
main subject lessons with Prof. Ursula Dehler. Since then, she has regularly taken part in the
Saturday concerts and has performed as a soloist at an event in the Weimarhalle, one of many to which she is invited.

Kai Uemura was born in Singapore in 2015 into a Japanese family. He received his first violin lesson at the age of five and half in Hong Kong. It was only 10 months after his first violin lesson when he won the 1^st prize at Hong Kong Youth Catania Music Competition 2021.

Kai moved to Germany with his family when he was six. He has been receiving violin lessons from Ms. Kiyomi Otake in Frankfurt since February 2022. In 2023, he won the 1^st prize with laureate at Mendelssohn-Wettbewerb (Frankfurt, Germany) as well as another 1^st prize with laureate at Hamburger Instrumental Wettbewerb (Hamburg, Germany).

Currently, Kai is playing with a 1/2 sized violin from Veronika Dreysse & Carsten Hoffmann and a 3/4 sized bow from Werner Uebel. Those are generously loaned to him by conTakt-junior Wettbewerb (Berlin, Germany) as reward of winning their competition.

He loves to read Japanese and English books in his free time. His dream is to work at NASA when he grows up.

Aurora Villalobos was born on 22 December 2009 in Lübeck.
At the end of 2011, the family moved to Berlin and in the summer of 2015, at the age of 5, Aurora received her first violin lessons from Tamara Prishepenko.
Just half a year later, in January 2016, she took part in the ‘Jugend musiziert’ competition in the youngest category and won 1st prize with the highest score.
Aurora also won the only first prize in the youngest category at the 3rd Alfred Csammer Violin Competition in Karlsruhe in November of the same year (2016).
This was followed in September 2018 by a first prize in the Contact Junior instrument competition for all ages, in which she won a violin from Burkhard Eickhoff and a bow from Klaus W. Uebel on loan for two years.
In 2020, Aurora was awarded the special prize at the Berlin International Music School Competition.
This was followed in February 2019 and 2021 and in February 2022 by first prizes in the ‘Jugend musiziert’ competition in both the duo category ( 2021 ) and the solo category ( 2019/ with forwarding in 2022 ). In April 2023, Aurora was the only applicant from Germany to be invited to the international violin competition ‘Il piccolo violino magico’ in Italy following a video application.

Cecilia was born in Tavernes de la Valldigna, Valencia (Spain) in 2009. Since 2022 she has been a student at the Reina Sofía Higher School of Music (ESMRS), in the Telefónica Violin Chair, with Professor Zakhar Bron. She enjoys the Albéniz Foundation Scholarship.From a family of musicians, he began his violin studies at the age of three with his father, and continued them with Gjorgi Dimcevski. She was a student at the Mislata Musical Instruction Center and the Valencia Professional Conservatory of Music. He has attended improvement courses and classes from teachers such as Yuri Vulgui or Akiko Ono.

At the age of 8 she received a scholarship from Yehudi Menuhin School in London to study in the prestigious academy. Despite her aspiration to study and due to family reasons the scholarship was posponed for later.

At the age of 8 she won the First Prize and Honorable Mention of the VI Provincial Contest of Young Interpreters of Canet D’En Berenguer, Valencia.  At the same age she won the first Spanish National Music Excellence Award Competition, sponsored by Lexus Spain, which led her to debut as a soloist with the Concerto in A minor by J.S. Bach at the Casa de América in Madrid under the baton of the director Inma Shara and members of the Teatro Real Orchestra.

In 2019 she won the third prize at the Josefa Micka International Violin Competition in Prague. (3rd Category). The same year she also won the third prize at the Leonid Kogan Internacional Violin Competition in Brussels. (1ª Category).In 2020 she won the China-Spain International Music Competition organized by the Liceu Conservatory and the Zhong-Xi-Qiao Intercultural Association.  In 2021 she won the second prize at the Kreutzer International Music Competition. (A Category).

Marianna Pazhik, born March 4, 2009 in Gdansk, comes from a family of musicians. Starting violin lessons at 3 with her father, she debuted publicly at 4 and won her first competition at 5. By 6, she enrolled in music school and at 8, she performed with the Krakow Philharmonic. Highlights include performances at the European Penderecki Music Center and the Kaliningrad Philharmonic at age 10. She’s garnered numerous awards, including 23 first prizes. Notable wins include competitions in Paris, Slovakia, Moscow, Israel, New York, and London. Currently studying in Krakow, she’s a recipient of the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage scholarship. In 2023, she claimed the top prize at the International Josef Hassid Violin Competition and in 2023, she secured the Second Prize at the Yenő Hubay International Violin Competition.

Estelle Presler was born on 16 September 2010 in Zurich. She is currently in the 7th grade in Unterseen. Estelle began playing the violin at the age of four and has been a pupil of Stefan Tarara since 2018. Estelle regularly attends violin lessons with the internationally recognised violin teacher Prof. Zakhar Bron at the Academy in Interlaken. She made her first solo debut at the age of six with the chamber orchestra in Omsk and the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra in Russia. Since then, Estelle has acquired a considerable repertoire ranging from baroque to contemporary music. Estelle has already performed as a soloist in numerous concerts and takes great pleasure in chamber music. She has won national and international first prizes and honours at prestigious music competitions, including the Kocian Competition in the Czech Republic and the Arthur Grumiaux Competition in Brussels, Belgium, as well as the Swiss Youth Music Competition as a soloist and in a duo.