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Lichtenberg-Hof, Germany

A celebration of musical excellence at the Haus Marteau Competition

Competitions

Young violinists from all over the world gathered in Haus Marteau, once a home to the world famous violinist Henri Marteau, now a unique institution for musical education in Europe, located in the small town of Lichtenberg, Germany.

End of April, 2026, 91 young violinists came to the Haus Marteau in Lichtenberg to open the competition with the first round performances. 

After four strenuous and exciting days of performances and anticipation, the jury chairman, Mr. Kurt Sassmannshaus, announced the semi-finalists: 16 outstanding musicians where allowed to the semi-finals, where they were expected to present a 45 minutes recital. 

They were asked to approach their performance as a concert and had to play a Caprice by Henri Marteau as well as the commissioned piece, "Kopfkino" by english composer Richard Blackford, together with one prelude by Max Reger and one of the Violin Sonatas by Beethoven. 

The six finalists. From left to right: David Martinez Gonzalez, Oleksii Tyshchenko, Maya Alexandra Kasprzak, Sasha Parker, Jayden King, Ziwen Wang

The concert hall in Haus Marteau

The competition continued at the Freiheitshalle in Hof, where the Finals gathered six wonderful musicians: David Martinez Gonzalez, Oleksii Tyshchenko, Maya Alexandra Kasprzak, Sasha Parker, Jayden King and Ziwen Wang. They all were accompanied by the Hofer Symphoniker under the baton of chief conductor Martijn Dendievel. 

The Jury, led by Gilbert Varga awarded the following prizes: 

1st Prize went to Maya Alexandra Kasprzak, who gave a brilliant performance of Johannes Brahms' Concerto in D major, Op. 77.

2nd Prize was awarded to David Martínez González, who played wonderfully Felix Mendelssohn's Concerto n°2 in E minor, Op. 64.

The surprise came from a brilliant 12 years old musician with a high level of virtuosity and musicality : Jayden King who interpreted the Concerto in D major, Op. 35 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky sharing a powerful yet warm sound, with sublime pianissimi, showing great maturity despite his young age. 

Maya Alexandra Kasprzak, 1st Prize

The Jury and the Artists

Awards 
First prize : Maya Alexandra Kasprzak (20), Leipzig
Second prize : Jayden King (11), New York
Third prize: David Martínez González (19), Madrid

Jury
Gilbert Varga (Chair), Michael Frischenschlager, Erika Geldsetzer, Ilya Kaler, Viktoria Kaunzner, Silvia Marcovici, Lena Neudauer, Kurt Sassmannshaus, Ingolf Turban, Tianwa Yang

Artists
Hofer Symphoniker/ Martijn Dendievel (Conductor)

©WFIMC2026/SB