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Viña del Mar, Chile

Viña del Mar becomes a Mekka for the Cello

Competitions

The Dr. Luis Sigall international Music Competition 2025 announces its winners

The Municipal Theater of Viña del Mar hosted the grand finale of the 49th Dr. Luis Sigall International Music Competition, in its cello category, one of the most important classical music events in Latin America, which brings together young performing talents from different countries around the world. Each year is dedicated to a different instrument.

During the final, three outstanding international performers gave a high-level closing performance of major works from the repertoire for cello and orchestra. Francisco Joui Karr, David Martin Gutiérrez and Johannes Gray played under the direction of maestro Álvaro Gómez, artistic director of the competition, with the participation of concertina player Routa Kroumovitch, and accompanied by the PUCV Chamber Orchestra, which provided a masterful accompaniment for each performance.

Laureates of the 2025 Cello Competition: Johannes Gray, David Martin Gutierrez and Francisco Joui Karr

Francisco Joui Karr performed Antonín Dvořák's famous cello concerto, displaying a sensitive and precise rendition of this Romantic masterpiece. David Martín Gutiérrez presented Dmitri Shostakovich's first cello concerto, standing out for his expressive intensity and technical mastery in one of the most challenging scores of the 20th century. Finally, Johannes Gray closed the day with another performance of the Dvorak, captivating the audience with his virtuosity and musicality.

The Jury awarded Francisco Joui Karr, born into a family from Quilpué, first place in this prestigious competition. After a decade without visiting Chile, Francisco performed in his country following an outstanding career on European stages. “I am very happy to have had the honor of winning first prize in this important competition,” said the musician, who is now preparing to continue his training in Germany.

 

Francisco Joui Karr

Francisco Joui Karr was born in Hamburg in 2006 into a Chilean-German family of musicians. He started playing piano and cello in early childhood. Since 2024, he has been a young student of the junior promotion class at Prof. Peter Bruns in Leipzig with a major in cello. Before that, he received lessons from Zoé Cartier at the music gymnasium "Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach". He studied piano as a young student at the "Julius Stern Institute" of the UDK Berlin with Prof. Thomas Menrath. Francisco has been an orchestra member of the Bundesjugendorchester since 2021. He has 1st and 2nd in different competitions. Prizes won, among others 2021 at the "Muse International Music Competition" the 1st Prize in the department of deep strings/celli and 2022 at the "Young Ludwig Youth Music Competition" the 1. Prize and additionally the Rolf-Sawatzki-Prize. Francisco has been taking regular master classes for cello or Chamber music, including Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Natalie Clein, Sebastian Klinger, Claudio Bohòrquez and Peter Bruns. It has been funded by the International Music Academy since 2021. Francisco has been a scholarship holder of the German Musikleben Foundation since 2024.

Laureates
First Prize: Francisco Joui Karr
Seocnd Prize: David Martin Gutiérrez
Third Prize: Johannes Gray

Jury
Christine Walevska, María Gabriela Olivares, Polonia Sienkiewicz Yañez, Katharina Paslawski, Julio Barrios Wattson, Eduardo Salgado Solovera

Artists
Nicolas Ahumada, composer
Orquesta de Camara PUCV (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso)/ Álvaro Gómez, conductor
Routa Kroumovitch, Concertina

 

©WFIMC2025