2023: ANDREAS SILES-MELLINGER
Andreas Siles-Mellinger is a versatile violinist with Bolivian, German and Argentinian cultural heritage, born on 18 September 1998 in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His musical passion led him to the Instituto Laredo at an early age, where he laid the foundations of his art from 2008 to 2012. He is currently studying violin at the renowned Mozarteum University Salzburg under the guidance of Klara Flieder and, since October 2023, also with Rainer Schmidt. His musical journey has taken him to countries such as Hungary, Greece, Germany and Japan, where his "Peace Memorial Concert" in honour of the survivors of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, in November 2017, was highly acclaimed. Andreas was also part of the opening ceremony of the Salzburg Festival and performed as a soloist with the YM Orchestra at the Rising Stars of Classical Music. Andreas Siles-Mellinger has received worldwide recognition and acclaim for his passion and talent in music. With his unique fusion of cultural influences and musical styles, he remains a fascinating and captivating artist who pushes the boundaries of his craft with every performance.
2022: LAURA KATHARINA HANDLER
Laura Katharina Handler began violin and singing lessons at the age of six and has been studying with Harald Herzl at the Mozarteum University since 2018. She has received numerous awards at national and international competitions and can look back on an extensive concert career: Performances as a soloist and chamber musician have taken her to venues including the Herkulessaal at the Munich Residenz, the Berlin Philharmonie, Shenzhen Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna. She has performed as a soloist with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra and the Taurida International Symphony Orchestra St. Petersburg, among others. Laura Katherina Handler has also performed at festivals such as the LvivMozArt Festival in Ukraine, the Keshet Eilon Festival in Israel, the Schleswig Holstein Festival, the Allegro Vivo Chamber Music Festival, the Munich Music Festival Stars & Rising Stars and the 71st Festival of Young Artists Bayreuth.
2021: LORENZ KARLS
Lorenz Karls started playing the violin at the age of four according to the Suzuki method, and began studying at the Mozarteum University in 2016, initially as a Pre-College student and later as a student of Violin Performance with Benjamin Schmid. He has already won numerous prizes at national and international competitions. As a soloist with orchestra he has performed at the Mozartwoche Salzburg 2018 in the Great Hall of the Mozarteum Foundation, and with such renowned ensembles as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the WDR Funkhausorchester Cologne, the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the ECHO and Grammy Awards winning orchestra "Kremerata Baltica". He plays a violin newly built especially for him by master violin maker Martin Schleske (built in 2017, Landsberg am Lech).
2020: NATHAN AMARAL
Nathan Amaral studied with Ester Hoppe and was the winner of the 2020 Paul Roczek Award. After multiple postponements due to the pandemic, his prize-winner concert was held as part of the 2022 award ceremony. He started violin lessons at the age of 12 in a social project that took children off the streets to learn music. Of the 200 or so children in the class, Nathan was the only one who went on to study music and pursue a career as a violinist. Amaral has celebrated success at a number of international competitions, including two-time winner of the biggest prize in Brazil, the Eleazar de Carvalho competition, the Weimar competition "Die Besten zum Schluss", the Vienna Classical Prize, the Cima International Violin Competition, the Ruggero Ricci Violin Competition at the Mozarteum and the Waslau Burkowsky Competition.
2019: YUKIKO UNO
Yukiko Uno studied with Rainer Schmidt at the Mozarteum University and as of 2019 was already a finalist and prizewinner of the legendary Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and the Oleh Krysa International Violin Competition in Ukraine, where she was described by jury chairman Oleh Krysa as a "violinist with a sound of crystal and pure soul." Numerous other competition successes in the past testify to the great talent of the Japanese violinist, who has established herself both as a soloist with renowned orchestras and in chamber music.
2018: MUHAMMEDJAN SHARIPOV
Muhammedjan Sharipov studied at the Mozarteum University with Harald Herzl. In 2017, the Uzbekistani violinist won the "Concorso Ruggiero Ricci", a competition for violinists studying at the Mozarteum. Sharipov has also won several awards at international competitions, including the Arthur Grumiaux Violin Competition in Belgium (3rd prize) and the "Remember Enescu" Violin Competition in Romania (1st prize).
2017: HARUNA SHINOYAMA
Haruna Shinoyama is a graduate of the Toho Gakuen Music High School in Tokyo and also studied at the Mozarteum University with Pierre Amoyal. Paul Roczek said of the young Japanese: "I am very happy that the jury chose Haruna Shinoyama. Whenever I have had the pleasure to hear her, my heart has gone out to her and I admire her charming and moving way of making music. The fact that she also won the first International Mozart Competition in 2015 in Zhuhai (China), thus widely documenting the high level of education of our department, confirms that she is a worthy representative of our art ."
2016: ZIYU HE
Ziyu He was invited to make his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Vienna Musikverein, as one of the youngest soloists ever, in April 2017. Ziyu He studied at the Mozarteum at the Leopold Mozart Institute for the Promotion of Giftedness with Paul Roczek (violin) and from 2014 also with Thomas Riebl (viola). Despite his tender years, as of 2016 he had already achieved a number of competition successes. In 2016 he also took first prize - with a special prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned work - at the International Mozart Competition of the Mozarteum University.
2015: LIV MIGDAL
Liv Migdal began her musical training as an eleven-year-old junior student with Christiane Hutcap at the Rostock University of Music and Theatre, where she was awarded her diploma with distinction. She completed a master's degree at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg with Igor Ozim. Migdal, who has won numerous prizes at international competitions and received scholarships from many renowned foundations, has given concerts in leading concert halls worldwide, including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Taipei Concert Hall, Beethovenhalle Bonn, Herkulessaal Munich, Philharmonie Essen, Liederhalle Stuttgart, Konzerthaus Berlin.
