Anna Im ('20) and Matthew Hakkarainen ('22) Win Top Prizes at 2024 Stuttgart Violin Competition
Two Curtis alumni won 1st prize and 3rd prize in the 2nd Stuttgart International Violin Competition, selected by an international jury of experts appointed by the Guadagnini Foundation.
Congratulations to violinists Anna Im (’20) and Matthew Hakkarainen (’22), who recently won top prizes at the 2nd Stuttgart International Violin Competition in Germany. Ms. Im, who studied with Shmuel Ashkenasi and Aaron Rosand at Curtis, was awarded first prize, which includes €30,000, and concert engagements with the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonie Südwestfalen, the Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie Chemnitz, the Mecklenburgische Staatskapelle Schwerin, the Erfurt Philharmonic Orchestra as well as further recitals. As first prize-winner, Ms. Im will also be granted the loan of a violin made by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini in 1746. Mr. Hakkarainen was awarded third prize and €10,000.
In the final round, the four finalists played first with the Lotus Quartett, then with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and conductor Ariel Zuckermann. The 2024 jury comprised of Ingolf Turban (president), Shmuel Ashkenasi, Ulf Wallin, Hagai Shaham, Suyoen Kim, Rudolf Koelman, Dr. Harald Eggebrecht, Josef Rissin, and Stefan Fehlandt.
Learn more about the competition HERE, and see the full list of winners and their prizes HERE or at the Violin Channel.
Photo of Ms. Im and Mr. Hakkarainen courtesy of artists. Photos of Ms. Im, competition winners, and judges of the 2024 Stuttgart International Violin Competition, courtesy of the Violin Channel and the Guadagnini Foundation.