Record number of participants at the tenth Carl Bechstein Competition for Children and Young People in Berlin

260 young pianists registered for the tenth Carl Bechstein Competition for Children and Young People. 70 participants were selected in a video round and impressed both the high-caliber jury and the audience at the Kulturstall in Schloss Britz in Berlin from October 18 to 20, 2024. Their strong performances were rewarded with prizes totaling around €10,000 (including more special prizes than ever before).

For the fourth time, the competition was held in the “solo piano” category. And the newly introduced video round also had an impact on the days in Britz:

“The competition was of an extremely high quality throughout, with some outstanding performances,” said Prof. Stephan Imorde, chairman of the jury. “We can only congratulate the Carl Bechstein Foundation on this wonderful initiative to promote young pianists!”

In addition to Prof. Imorde, Prof. Sheila Arnold, Wei Chen, Prof. Christian Petersen, and Prof. Annika Treutler were among the expert jury members this year, who had no easy task in this dense field of high-caliber participants.

The artistic quality of even the youngest participants is always astonishing: Toni Gu from Düsseldorf, who is only nine years old and won first prize in age group I, opened the prize winners’ concert with a very transparent interpretation of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in D major, BWV 850. Due to the extremely high standard in this age group, ten-year-old Frieda Magdalena Hollmer from Cologne was also awarded first prize: she played two movements from Georg Kröll’s “Tagebuch für Klavier” (Diary for Piano) at the prize winners’ concert, for which she also received the special prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary work in her age group.

Twelve-year-old Adriana Vasilski from Munich, first prize winner in age group II, played the opening Allegro from Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 31 No. 3 with a musical maturity that one would hardly expect from someone so young. Nia Khundadze (14) from Berlin won first prize in age group III and also secured a special prize from the Hindemith Foundation.

Kaiji Wang (16) from Leipzig provided an impressive finale to the prize winners’ concert, mastering one of the most difficult works in the piano repertoire, Ravel’s “La Valse,” with technical brilliance, and was rewarded with first prize in age group 4 and the Schloss Britz concert prize.

For the first time, the Funk Group awarded a special prize for the best interpretation of a rarely performed Romantic work: Celina Höferlin (14) from Mainz beautifully brought the C. Bechstein D 282 concert grand piano to life in Automne from Cécile Chaminade’s Études de concert, Op. 35.

Additional special prizes were donated by the Friends of Britz Castle (concert engagement), the Fireworks Academy (free participation in a one-week master class), and Bärenreiter Publishing (music vouchers worth a total of €1,000).

Der nächste Carl Bechstein Wettbewerb findet vom 7. bis 9. November 2025 im Schloss Britz statt und wird in der Kategorie „Klavier und ein Streichinstrument“ ausgeschrieben.

Photos © Carl Bechstein Stiftung / Patricia Haas