Pianist Augustinas Eidukonis has won the competition for the 58th Possehl Music Prize, which was held at the MHL on 17 and 18 November. Second place went to piano student Yusuke Morita and third place to oboe student Kana Kobayashi.
25-year-old Lithuanian Augustinas Eidukonis, a master’s student in Prof Konrad Elser’s piano class, won first prize in this year’s Possehl Foundation Lübeck Music Competition with works by Beethoven, Barkauskas and Mussorgsky. He studied in Lübeck, Amsterdam and Paris and has already been awarded prizes and scholarships, including a scholarship from the Weiland Kulturstiftung Henning Hamkens and the Ad Infinitum Foundation.
Jury chairman Dr Ole Krönert announced the winners yesterday afternoon in the Great Hall after the eight-member jury had deliberated and praised the high standard of the competition. “Augustinas Eidukonis was unanimously chosen as a convincing, serious and unpretentious prizewinner who was able to inspire with his intimate and considered interpretation” said Krönert, explaining the jury’s choice.
13 MHL students from various instrumental disciplines competed in two rounds for the traditional Possehl Music Prize. Six of the candidates qualified for the final on Thursday. Piano student Yusuke Morita, also from Prof Konrad Elser’s piano class, received the second prize of 2,500 euros, while oboist Kana Kobayashi from Prof Diethelm Jonas’ class secured the third prize of 1,500 euros. There were also prizes of 1,000 euros each for clarinettist Strahinja Pavlovic from Prof Jens Thoben’s class and for Rodolfo Focarelli from Christian German Ruvolo’s class for the best student piano accompaniment.
On Saturday, 15 January at 6 pm, the prizewinners will present themselves to the audience in a concert in the MHL’s Great Hall.
Photo: Ludo Segers