Classical Music Archives - Curtis Institute of Music

The acclaimed violinist and Curtis alumnus received 2nd prize at the prestigious competition in Katowice, Poland

Congratulations to Curtis alumnus Matthew Hakkarainen (Violin ’22), who recently won second prize and an award of €5,000 at the 2024 Mieczysław Wajnberg International Violin Competition in Katowice, Poland. Named for Polish composer Mieczysław Wajnberg (1919–96), the competition was streamed on The Violin Channel and hosted at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music.

Mr. Hakkarainen performed Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in the finals, alongside Romanian violinist Iohan Coman and Slovenian violinist Maja Horvat, who were awarded first and third prize, respectively. All finalists received a diploma, and all top three prizewinners performed in the December 8 laureates concert.

Recently announced as the 2024–25 Rebanks Fellow, part of the International Performance Residency Program at the Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School, Mr. Hakkarainen will study privately with the conservatory’s faculty and guest artists, present concerts, experience career coaching sessions, marketing training, and participate in a funded European residency. He is the first American violinist to be awarded first prize at the Premio Rodolfo Lipizer International Violin Competition, the 3rd prize winner of the 2024 Stuttgart International Violin Competition, and won the New World Symphony Concerto Competition, along with the Aspen Music Festival Violin Competition, and received first prize ex aequo in the Prix Ravel at the Conservatoire américain de Fontainebleau. After Mr. Hakkarainen received his bachelor’s degree at Curtis, where he studied with Pamela Frank (Violin ’89), he attended the Juilliard School and studied with Sylvia Rosenberg and Ronald Copes.