Prize winners 2009

Category I

1st Prize: Asagi Nakata (Japan)

At the early age of 3, Asagi Nakata received her first piano lessons from her mother. At the age of 8 she was admitted as a young student to the Royal College of Music in London, where she is currently studying under Ian Jones. In 2005, she won 1st prize in the youngest category of the EPTA Belgian International Competition. The 13 year-old pianist had her debut as soloist in 2008 with the Southbank Sinfonia in Waterloo playing Mozart’s A-major piano concerto KV 488.

Contact: satsuki(at)aveceuro.com

2nd Prize: Nuron Mukumiy (Usbekistan)

During the course of this competition, Nuron Mukumiv celebrated his 13th birthday. Born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, he received lessons at a school for musically gifted children from Professor Tamara Popovich. Since 2007 he has been taught by Dr Michael Schneider at the Purcell School in London. He has already won a wide range of first prizes – for example in 2007 at the 2nd International Mozart Competition in Rome or in 2008 at the 4th International Piano Competition in Fribourg, Switzerland.

Contact: naufalnetsky(at)googlemail.com

3rd Prize: Youmin Shin (Korea)

At the tender age of 4, Yumin Shin received her first piano lessons as well as violin and cello lessons. At 8 she decided to focus on piano. She has been a student of Prof. Gerlinde Otto at the LISZT SCHOOL of Music in Weimar since December 2008. She has won several prizes in her homeland South Korea – the “Grand Prix” at the Yeojeon Competition and the Asia-Pacific Country Competition, for example.

Contact: dbals1129(at)hanmail.net

Category II

1st Prize: Mayuko Motoyama (Japan)

In 2008, the Japanese Mayuko Motoyama won the bronze medal at the Chopin International Piano Competition. In 2004, she took 1st prize at the 5th Osaka International Competition. As a 4 year-old she received her first piano lessons. Currently she is taking piano lessons with Fumiko Eguchi and Seiko Ohtomo at the Piano Art Academy. The 15 year-old has given solo concerts in Tokyo, Kobe and Hiroshima as well as Warsaw. In addition to winning 1st prize at the 2nd International FRANZ LISZT Competition in Weimar, she also took home two special prizes.

Contact: boo-ryota716.paa-mayu42(at)ezweb.ne.jp

2nd Prize: Ruslan Strogiy (Estonia)

Born in Narva, Estonia in 1992, Ruslan Strogiy received his first piano lessons at the age of 5. He has been a student at the High School for the Musically Gifted in Tallinn since the age of 13, where he receives piano instruction from Maigi Pakri. From 2001 until the present, the 16 year old has won a series of 1st and 2nd prizes at piano competitions for young pianist in Estonia and in Lithuania, for example at the Estonian Contest of Young Pianists or the International Competition of the Baltic Sea Countries.

Contact: sirje11(at)hot.ee

3rd Prize: Inge Du (Germany)

Born in Germany to a Chinese family, Inge Du received her first piano lessons at 5 years of age. At the age of 10 she won 1st prize at the Thürmer Piano Competition in Bochum. In the meantime, her family moved back to China. Ms Du currently resides in Düsseldorf, where she studies at the Robert-Schumann-Hochschule für Musik. The 15 year old is currently studying under Professor Barbara Szczepanska. In March 2008, she won 3rd prize at the 1st International Rachmaninov Competition in Darmstadt.

Contact: inge_ich06(at)yahoo.de

3rd Prize: Maria Verbaite (Litauen)

Born in Kaunas, Lithuania in 1992, Maria Verbaite attended the Children Music School as a little girl. She then studied in the studio of Rita Stankeviciene at the Kaunus Music Conservatory. Since 2003, the 16 year-old pianist has taken piano lessons in Sweden and Finland. First she studied with Tamara Jeltova at the Stockholm Classical Piano School and later under Professor Erik T. Tawastjerna at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.

Contact: verbiene(at)hotmail.com

Category III

2nd Prize: Kausikan Rajeshkumar (Great Britain)

At the 2005 FRANZ LISZT Competition in Weimar, he won a spezial prize for the best interpretation of an original composition. The 19 year-old Kausikan Rajeshkumar is a student at the London Purcell School. In 2006 he won the EPTA Composition Competition with a trio for piano, oboe and clarinet. As a pianist, composer and chamber musician, he has had several appearances in London’s Wigmore Hall. The Royal Academy and the Royal College of Music have both offered him stipends.

Contact: kausikanr(at)hotmail.com

3rd Prize: Valeriya Mirosh (Kazakhstan)

Although she grew up in Kazakhstan, she has spent practically her entire life in the Ukraine. At the young age of 7, Valeriya Mirosh won 1st prize at the International Sergei Prokofiev Piano Competition in Donezk. She received her musical training at a school for the musically gifted in Kertsch. Since then she has been in the class of Tatjana Kim at the State Music School in Sewastopol. The 17 year old pianist has already appeared with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic and the National Philharmonic of the Ukraine.

Contact: mirosh(at)bk.ru

Special awards

Asagi Nakata (Japan)

Special award for the best interpretation of a work by Franz Liszt, donated by the Franz-Liszt-Gesellschaft e.V. Weimar

Maria Verbaite (Litauen)

Special award for the best interpretation of a 20th century piece, sponsored by Klavierhaus Michael Fiech

Inge Du (Deutschland)

Special award for the interpretation of a 20th century piece, sponsored by Klavierhaus Michael Fiech

Mayuko Motoyama (Japan)

Special award by the LISZT FOUNDATION Weimar
Special award by the European Union of Music Competitions for Youth (EMCY)

Kausikan Rajeshkumar (Großbritannien)

Spezial award for the best interpretation of the original composition

International FRANZ LISZT Competition | Young Pianists