Record numbers again at the Concours de Genève

Competitions

8 December 2023

Winners are announced at the 2023 Flute Edition

Flutist Elizaveta Ivanova has been revealed as the first prize winner of the 2023 edition of the Concours de Genève/ Geneva international Music Competition. Ivanova was awarded the top prize after a final round which took place at Geneva’s Victoria Hall.

Ivanova, who is also a co-soloist in the Frankfurt Opera Orchestra, receives a cash prize of CHF 20,000 (£17,973). She was also awarded the competition’s Arts Society Prize and the Souffle Prize, both of which offer performance opportunities. Moreover, Competition finalists receive two years of career management, personal coaching and concert opportunities from Sartory Artists, partner agency of the Concours de Genève. Ivanova finished first of 40 competitors who had been selected from more than 300 applications.

Jury chair, ﬂautist Silvia Careddu, said: ‘Throughout this 77th edition of the Concours de Genève, we have been able to listen to and discover all the wonderful talents. We wish all our ﬁnalists and all the participants of the Competition a wonderful career. Ad maiora and all the best in your musical lives.’

While no third prize winner was selected, the competition second prize of CHF 12,000 (£10,784) was awarded jointly to Yuan Yu and Mario Bruno. Bruno also received the publicly-voted Audience Prize, the Young Audience Prize (voted for by a group of students from schools in Geneva), and the students' prize (awarded by a group of students from the University of Geneva’s Faculty of Music and Department of Musicology). He also won the Prize de L´Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, awarded by the musicians of the orchestra.

The Rose-Marie Huguenin Prize was awarded to all three flute finalists, offering them a grant for their creative projects, while the Paul Streit Prize for a ‘particularly deserving ﬂutist’ was given to Judy Lee.

Prizes:

1st Prize: Elizaveta Ivanova (26), Frankfurt

2nd Prize: Mario Bruno (26), Kassel and Yuan Yu (21), Paris

Jury:

Silvia Careddu, Denis Bouriakov, Magali Mosnier, Loïc Schneider, Seiya Ueno, Henrik Wiese, Hyeri Yoon

Artists:

Orchestre de la Suisse Romande/ Kaspar Zehnder (Conductor)

Founded in 1939, the Geneva Competition is one of the world’s leading international music competitions. It aims at discovering, promoting and supporting young talented artists, giving them the necessary tools to launch an international career.

Besides its regular prizes, the Concours de Genève offers an ambitious career development programme, providing precious support and advice to help boost laureates' careers.

Laureates benefit from two years of management from the concert agency Sartory Artists- key to a series of performances, allowing them to take their first steps in Swiss and international concert venues.
During the two years following their prize, laureates are also offered an international concert tour: a great way to promote the Competition abroad and a unique opportunity for prize-winners to establish an international reputation.
Lastly, the Concours de Genève offers an annual Prizewinners Workshop. During one week, participants can take part in a series of seminars comprised of different subjects, such as performance, health, career management, image and social media.