The ARD International Music Competition () is the largest international classical music competition in Germany. It is organised by the Bayerischer Rundfunk and is held once a year in Munich, usually in September. Since its inception in 1952, it has become one of the most prestigious classical music competitions. In 1957, it became one of the founding members of the World Federation of International Music Competitions.
A prize at this competition has acted as a springboard for a career. Notable past winners and prize winners include: Yuri Bashmet, Myung-whun Chung, Christoph Eschenbach, Sol Gabetta, Alban Gerhardt, Natalia Gutman, Heinz Holliger, Nobuko Imai, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Kim Kashkashian, François Leleux, Jessye Norman, Quatuor Ébène, Thomas Quasthoff, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Antoine Tamestit, Christian Tetzlaff, Alexandre Tharaud, Tokyo String Quartet, Mitsuko Uchida and Anne Sofie von Otter.
History Between 1947 and 1950, the Radio Frankfurt held a "Young Soloists Competition". The earliest competition discovered two female vocalists who would soon take their place among the international talented: Christa Ludwig and Erika Köth. Instrumentalists included flautist Karlheinz Zöller and pianist Robert-Alexander Bohnke. The newly founded ARD continued the concept of bringing together talented young musicians from the entire globe.
The competition categories change from year to year and include solo instrumentsm voice and chamber ensembles. An emphasis has been placed on modern music, and contemporary composers have regularly been commissioned to write new pieces for this Competition since 2001.
350 to 450 young musicians usually apply each year, out of whom 200 candidates, from 35 to 40 countries, make it past the preliminary round. A large percentage of competitors come from countries other than Germany (up to 86%).
The 2020 edition was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
Categories
2000: Flute, Voice, Piano duo, Viola, String quartet 2001: Violin, Cello, Wind quintet, Percussion, Saxophone 2002: Piano, Oboe, Bassoon, Piano trio 2003: Voice, Clarinet, Trumpet, Double bass, 2004: Flute, Viola, String quartet, Harp 2005: Violin, Piano duo, Horn, Cello 2006: Piano, Voice (Opera), Voice (Concert/Lied), Wind quintet 2007: Oboe, Trombone, Piano trio, Percussion 2008: Bassoon, Clarinet, Viola, String quartet 2009: Violin, Voice, Double bass, Harp 2010: Flute, Piano duo, Horn, Cello 2011: Piano, Oboe, Piano duo, Trumpet, Organ 2012: Voice, Clarinet, String quartet 2013: Violin, Bassoon, Viola, Piano trio 2014: Piano, Cello, Wind quintet, Percussion 2015: Flute, Voice, Piano duo, Trombone 2016: Horn, Double bass, String quartet, Harp 2017: Piano, Violin, Oboe, Guitar 2018: Voice, Trumpet, Viola, Piano trio 2019: Bassoon, Clarinet, Cello, Percussion 2021: Piano Duo, Horn, Voice, Violin 2022: Flute, Trombone, Piano, String quartet 2023: Piano trio, Harp, Viola, Double bass 2024: Wind Quintet, Voice, Oboe, Violoncello 2025: Piano, Clarinet, Trumpet 2026: Bassoon, Percussion, String quartet, Organ
Piano competition had been held almost uninterruptedly from 1952 to 1973, except the years 1955 and 1964. It was then held every other year till 1981. It was held consecutively from 1981 to 1983, and then every other year again till 1999. In 1953, three categories were added: violin, flute, violin-piano duo. Violin competition was held every 3 years from 1966 to 1984.
Four categories were added in 1954: voice, oboe, bassoon, clarinet. The voice competition had been held every year from 1954 to 1972. It was then held every two years till 2000. Oboe competition had been held every five years from 1976 to 1996. Bassoon competition had been held six times in the 20th century.
The competition kept expanding categories in the following years, adding piano duo (1955), horn (1956), cello (1957), organ (1957). New categories in 1958 were cello-piano duo, trumpet, and harpsichord, which would only have three additional editions. String quartet competition opened in 1959.
The 1960s saw the first edition of piano trio (1961), viola (1962), trombone (1965), wind quintet (1966). Two categories briefly appeared: string trio (1961, 1969) and piano sight-reading (1963, 1965). Four categories premiered in the 1970s: guitar (1976), percussion (1977), double bass (1979), and recorder, which was only held twice so far (1978, 1988). The first harp competition was held in 1983, as its only edition in the 20th century.
Prize money Prize money per category 1. Prize: €10,000 2. Prize: €7,500 3. Prize: €5,000
Winners
Category:Prize-winners of the ARD International Music Competition
Full lists of winners can be retrieved from the competition's website.
1994s
1994 Voice (female) 1st Prize: Urszula Kryger, Poland 2nd Prize: Christian Elsner, Germany 3rd Prizes Islam, Louise Ali-Zadeh, Uzbekistan
Violoncello 1st Prize: Jens Peter Maintz, Germany 2nd Prize: Tatjana Vasiljeva, Russia 3rd Prizes Tanja Tetzlaff, Germany
Organ 2nd Prize: Ariane Metz, Germany 3rd Prizes Leonhard Amselgruber, Germany
2000s
2000 Voice (female) 1st Prize: Zoryana Kushpler, Ukraine 3rd Prizes (shared): Stefanie Krahnenfeld, Germany; Christa Mayer, Germany
Voice (male) 1st Prize: Konrad Jarnot, Great Britain 2nd Prize: Nathaniel Webster, USA 3rd Prize: Friedemann Röhlig, Germany
Viola 2nd Prize: Danusha Waskiewicz, Germany
Flute 2nd Prizes (shared): Rozàlia Szabó, Hungary; Henrik Wiese, Germany 3rd Prize: Kersten McCall, Germany
Piano Duo 1st Prize: Mati Mikalai / Kai Ratassepp, Estonia 2nd Prize: Duo d'Accord, Taiwan/Germany
String Quartet 2nd Prize: Avalon String Quartett, France/Canada/USA 3rd Prize: Quartetto Prometeo, Italy
2001 Violin 2nd Prize: Annette von Hehn, Germany 3rd Prizes (shared): Min Jung Kang, Korea; Yamei Yu, Germany
Cello 1st Prize: Danjulo Ishizaka, Germany 2nd Prizes (shared): Julie Albers, USA; Monika Leskovar, Croatia 3rd Prize: Thomas Carroll, Great Britain
Saxophone 2nd Prize: Alexandre Doisy, France 3rd Prizes (shared): Lutz Koppetsch, Germany; Julien Petit, France
Percussion 1st Prize: Marta Klimasara, Poland 2nd Prize: Eirik Raude, Norway 3rd Prize: Christophe Roldan, France
Wind Quintet 1st Prize: Miró Ensemble, Spain 2nd Prize: Orsolino Quintett, Germany/Austria 3rd Prize: St. Petersburg Woodwind Quintet, Russia
2002 Bassoon 2nd Prize: Matthias Rácz, Germany 3rd Prizes (shared): Jaakko Luoma, Finland; Lyndon Watts, Australia
Oboe 3rd Prizes (shared): Nora Cismondi, France; Alexandre Gattet, France
Piano 1st Prize: Denys Proshayev, Ukraine 2nd Prize: Ferenc Vizi, Romania 3rd Prize: Chiao-Ying Chang, Taiwan
Piano Trio 2nd Prizes (shared): Trio con Brio, Denmark/Korea; Trio Ondine, Sweden/Denmark/Norway
2003 Voice (female) 1st Prize: Marina Prudenskaja, Russia 2nd Prizes (shared): Andrea Lauren Brown, USA; Measha Brueggergosman, Canada 3rd Prize: Julia Sukmanova, Russia
Voice (male) 1st Prize: Gérard Kim, Korea 3rd Prizes (shared): Tyler Duncan, Canada; Günter Papendell, Germany
Double Bass 1st Prize: Nabil Shehata, Germany 2nd Prize: Roman Patkoló, Slovakia 3rd Prize: Ödön Rácz, Hungary
Clarinet 2nd Prize: Olivier Patey, France 3rd Prize: Florent Pujuila, France
Trumpet 1st Prize: David Guerrier, France 2nd Prize: Giuliano Sommerhalder, Switzerland 3rd Prizes (shared): Gabor Richter, Hungary; Guillaume Couloumy, France
2004 Viola 1st Prize: Antoine Tamestit, France 2nd Prize: Ryszard Groblewski, Poland 3rd Prize: Tomoko Akasaka, Japan
Flute 1st Prize: Magali Mosnier, France 2nd Prize: Pirmin Grehl, Germany 3rd Prize: Andrea Oliva, Italy
String Quartet 1st Prize: Ébène Quartet, France 2nd Prize: Faust Quartett, Germany 3rd Prize: Quatuor Benaïm, Israel/France
Harp 1st Prize: Anton Sie, Netherlands 2nd Prize: Nabila Chajai, France 3rd Prize: Mirjam Schroder, Germany
2005 Violin 1st Prize: Keisuke Okasaki, Japan 2nd Prize: Akiko Yamada, Japan 3rd Prize: Katja Lämmermann, Germany
Cello 1st Prize: Jing Zhao, China 2nd Prize: Alexander Bouzlov, Russia 3rd Prize: Alexander Chaushian, Armenia/Great Britain
Horn 1st Prize: Szabolcs Zempléní, Hungary 2nd Prizes (shared): Louis-Philippe Marsolais, Canada; Renate Hupka, Germany 3rd Prize: Christoph Eß, Germany
Piano Duo 2nd Prizes (shared): Victor y Luis del Valle, Spain; Piano Duo Poskute – Daukantas, Lithuania 3rd Prize: Silivanova – Puryzhinskiy, Russia
2006 Voice/Opera 1st Prize: Jun Mo Yang, Korea 2nd Prize: Joshua Hopkins, Canada 3rd Prizes (shared): Ilse Eerens, Belgium; Anna Kasyan, Armenia
Voice/Lied 2nd Prizes (shared): Roxana Constantinescu, Rumania; Carolina Ullrich, Chile/Germany 3rd Prizes (shared): Colin Balzer, Canada; Peter Schöne, Germany
Piano 1st Prize: Benjamin Kim, USA 2nd Prizes (shared): Hisako Kawamura, Japan; Marianna Shirinyan, Armenia
Wind Quintet 1st Prize: Quintette Aquilon, France 2nd Prize: Quintett Chantily, Germany/Hungary/Russia/Finland 3rd Prize: Weimarer Bläserquintett, Germany
2007 Oboe 1st Prize: Ramón Ortega Quero, Spain 2nd Prize: Ivan Podyomov, Russia 3rd Prize: Maria Sournatcheva, Russia
Trombone 1st Prize: Fabrice Millischer, France 2nd Prize: Frederic Belli, Germany 3rd Prize: Juan Carlos Matamoros, Spain
Percussion 1st Prize: Johannes Fischer, Germany 2nd Prize: Vassilena Serafimova, Bulgaria
Piano Trio 1st Prize: Tecchler Trio, Switzerland/Germany 2nd Prize: Morgenstern Trio, Germany/France 3rd Prize: Trio Cérès, France
2008 Viola 2nd Prize: Wen Xiao Zheng, China 3rd Prize: Teng Li, China
Clarinet 1st Prize: Sebastian Manz, Germany 3rd Prizes (shared): Shelly Ezra, Israel; Taira Kaneko, Japan
Bassoon 2nd Prizes (shared): Christian Kunert, Germany; Philipp Tutzer, Italy 3rd Prize: Václav Vonášek, Czech Republic Bärenreiter Prize for the Best Interpretation of the Commissioned Work: Julien Hardy, France
String Quartet 1st Prize: Apollon Musagete Quartett, Poland 2nd Prize: Afiara String Quartet, Canada 3rd Prizes (shared): Gémeaux Quartet, Germany/Switzerland; Verus String Quartet, Japan
2009 Violin 1st Prize: Hyeyoon Park, Korea 2nd Prize: Kei Shirai, Japan 3rd Prize: Lily Francis, USA
Double Bass 1st Prize: Gunars Upatnieks, Latvia 2nd Prize: Stanislau Anishchanka, Belarus 3rd Prizes (shared): Olivier Thiery, France; Ivan Zavgorodniy, Ukraine
Voice 1st Prize: Anita Watson, Australia 2nd Prize: Sunyoung Seo, Korea; Wilhelm Schwinghammer, Germany 3rd Prize: Hye Jung Lee, Korea; Falko Hönisch, Germany
2010s
2010 Flute 1st Prize: Loïc Schneider, France 2nd Prize: Daniela Koch, Austria 3rd Prize: Sooyun Kim, South Korea/USA BR Klassik Prize: Ivannay Ternay, Ukraine
Cello 1st Prize: Julian Steckel, Germany 2nd Prize: Gen Yokosawa, Japan 3rd Prize: Tristan Cornut, France
Horn 1st Prize: Přemysl Vojta, Czech Republic 2nd Prizes (shared): Dániel Ember, Hungary; Paolo Mendes, Germany
Piano Duo 2nd Prize: Hyun Joo & Hee Jin June – Remnant Piano Duo, South Korea 3rd Prize: Susan & Sarah Wang – DoubleWang Duo, USA Special Prize: Pianoduo Groebner & Trisko, Austria
2011 Oboe 2nd Prizes (shared): Philippe Tondre, France, with Public Prize; Ivan Podyomov, Russia 3rd Prize: Cristina Gómez Godoy, Spain; Marc Lachat, France
Organ 1st Prize: Schöch, Austria 2nd Prize: Anna-Victoria Baltrusch, German 3rd Prize: Lukas Stollhof, Dutch
Trumpet 1st Prize: Manuel Blanco Gómez-Limón, Spain 2nd Prize: Alexandre Baty, France 3rd Prize: Ferenc Mausz, Hungary, with Public Prize
Piano 1st Prize: Alexej Gorlatch, Ukraine, with Public Prize 2nd Prize: Tori Huang (Claire Huangci), USA 3rd Prize: Dasol Kim, South Korea Special Prizes: EunAe Lee, South Korea
2012 Voice (male) 2nd Prizes (shared): Dashon Burton, USA; Hansung Yoo, South Korea, with Public Prize 3rd Prize: Kyubong Lee, South Korea
Voice (female) 1st Prize: Olena Tokar, Ukraine 2nd Prizes (shared): Sumi Hwang, South Korea; Anna Sohn, South Korea 3rd Prize: Sophia Christine Brommer, Germany, with Public Prize
Clarinet