News

The prizewinners of the CESQ 2nd International Composition Composition have been announced! 53 composers from 22 countries around the globe took part in the competition, and it was a pleasure for us to discover every submitted work.

In addition to monetary and special prizes, the 1st prize winner's piece will be premiered in Budapest by the CESQ and then performed again several times during the 2020/2021 season.

1st prize:

Andrea Vanzo (Italy)

"Wires" (2020)

2nd prize:

Federico Riva (Italy)

"Intersections" (2020)

3rd prize:

Guilherme Araujo de Almeida (Brazil)

"Prece ao Brasil" (2020)

Special Prizes:

Special Prize of the Péter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation:

Participation at a composition master class of the Péter Eötvös Contemporary Music Foundation in 2020/2021

Giorgio Francesco Dalla Villa (Italy)

"Quartetto Nr. 1. Notte a San Domenico" (2019)

"Support Excellence Award”:

Balogh Máté (Hungary)

"Recitativo prosecco" (2020)

"Most Innovative":

June Young Kim (South-Korea)

"A sigh into thin air" (2020)

Special Prize of the Editio Musica Budapest:

Package of scores

John Senter (UK)

"String Quartet" (2018)

The Central European String Quartet plays the Menuett of Haydn’s “Lark" String Quartet in D Major, Op. 64/5. Recorded in June 2019.

On 22 and 23 October 2019, the CESQ will make its debut in Salzburg, Austria. The location of the concerts is Schloss Mirabell’s Marble Hall, one of the most beautiful and historically significant concert halls of the world, where the family of Mozart once performed. The quartet will perform string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Dvorak.

On 2 September 2019, the newly founded chamber orchestra, Central European Strings, made its much-anticipated debut at the Closing Concert of the 1st New Millennium International Chamber Music Festival. The orchestra consists of the Central European String Quartet in the principal positions, joined by members of Hungary’s top orchestras. The orchestra’s goal is to display the intimacy and energy of the CESQ in a bigger apparatus. The program consisted of works by C.P.E. Bach, Elgar, Händel, Spohr, Tartini, and Tchaikovsky. Soloists Klára Bábel (harp), Bartosz Koziak (cello), Miranda Liu (violin), and the winners of the NMICMF’s Concerto

The premier of Leonardo Mezzalira’s Quartetto del pulsare e dell' affiorare, which captured the 1st Prize at the CESQ 1st International Composition Competition, took place on 24 February 2019 at the Óbudai Társaskör in Budapest. In addition, the CESQ performed the work on 18 April at the Liszt Academy of Music’s Solti Hall, as well as on 11 June at the Marble Hall of the Hungarian Radio. The quartet’s performance on 11 June was later broadcasted by the Bartók Radio.

Thank you to all of the 75 composers from 27 countries around the globe who took part in our competition this year, and congratulations to the winners!

1st prize:

Leonardo Mezzalira (Italy)

"Quartetto del pulsare e dell' affiorare" (2018)

2nd prize:

Johannes X. Schachtner (Germany)

"Vor Anker" - Streichquartett (2018)

3rd prize:

Jonatán Zámbó (Hungary)

"14 bagatell" (2018)

Special Prizes:

Jury Prize: Not awarded

Best Lark Award:

Krasimir Draganov Taskov (Bulgaria) "Charmed Lark"(2018)

Most Innovative: Amy Brandon (Canada) "Aperture" (2018)

Most Entertaining: Xubin Ma (China) "The Lark from Buenos Aires" (2018)

Prize of the Liszt Academy Foundation:

The committee of the Liszt Academy Foundation awards the prize to a doctoral candidate Máté Balogh (Hungary)

"Lerchenquartett-Hommage a J. Haydn" (2018)

This summer, the CESQ was the Ensemble in Residence of the 1st New Millennium International Chamber Music Festival in Budapest. In addition to string quartets by Debussy and Janacek, the quartet performed chamber works by Brahms and Ravel, in collaboration with artists László Móré (viola), Bartosz Koziak (cello), Noémi Győri (flute), Csaba Klenyán (clarinet), and Klára Bábel (harp). In July 2019, the CESQ performed at the Valley of Arts Festival (Művészetek Völgye) and the Klassz a pARTon Festival with great success.