The winners of the University of Oldenburg's 14th Carl von Ossietzky Composition Competition have been announced. This year's competition was for compositions for piano. The five-member international jury, headed by Oldenburg composer and university lecturer Prof Violeta Dinescu, received more than 200 works from over 40 countries.
Bochum composer Jona Kümper was awarded 1st prize for his composition "Musica viva - three variations for piano". The prize is endowed with 1,000 euros. The 2nd prize and 700 euros go to the composer and pianist Kaiyi Kao, who was born in Taiwan and lives in Vienna, for "Kontrast". Gevorg Darbinyan (Hamburg) and David Holleber (Trossingen) share the third prize and each receive 250 euros. Darbinyan took part in the competition with his composition "Hawum" and Holleber was honoured for his work "Sphärenklänge".
The young talent prize and 300 euros will be awarded to 17-year-old pianist Luyuan Li from China for his composition "leap motion for piano". For the first time this year, the jury awarded a "Special Youth Prize". This was awarded to nine-year-old Myrsini Kagarlis from Greece for her competition entry "The Dance Of Colours". The jury also included 28 works in the repertoire of the Carl von Ossietzky Composition Competition. A further 16 works were honoured with an award.
The award ceremony will take place on Saturday, 18 July 2015, 6 p.m., at the University of Oldenburg (Alte Aula, Building A11, Haarentor campus). Pianist Werner Barho and his students will perform compositions by the prizewinners.
The University awards the Carl von Ossietzky Composition Prize annually in memory of its namesake. This year, the 15th composition competition for voice with oboe, bassoon, viola, cello and piano - in instrumentation ranging from duo to sextet - has been announced. The prize money for the 14th Carl von Ossietzky Composition Competition was provided by the Universitätsgesellschaft Oldenburg e.V. (UGO).
