Das Bild zeigt zwei junge Männer mit gläsernen Trophäen.
Oliver Bićanić (links) und Ingmar Rosenthal | Photo: Claudia Buder

Another double success

Accordion students from Weimar win the ‘16th Accordion Music Prize’ in Ettlingen

Following the double success of the Weimar accordion class at the international accordion competition in Belgium, Prof Claudia Buder's students have once again achieved success. Ingmar Rosenthal and Oliver Bićanić won 1st and 2nd prize at the ‘16th Accordion Music Prize’ in Ettlingen (Baden-Württemberg).

The competition is the largest national accordion competition - with international participation, as foreign students resident in Germany can also take part. 

The two students from the University of Music FRANZ LISZT Weimar prevailed in a broad field of applicants, which also included accordion students from Detmold, Munich, Nuremberg and Trossingen.

Ingmar Rosenthal won first prize in the ‘Accordion solo’ category as well as the special prize of the ‘Accordion Academy Munich’, which also includes a solo concert and a masterclass in Munich 2025. His Weimar fellow student Oliver Bićanić was awarded 2nd prize in the solo category.

‘Combining musical-creative activity with participation in international competitions means a lot to me, as it gives the competition a personal touch,’ explains Ingmar Rosenthal, who concluded his competition programme with his own composition ‘Mascha’. ‘The piece is inspired by Slavic motifs and was premiered in its current form at the competition.’

Ingmar Rosenthal was already enthusiastic about Slavic folklore as a 7-year-old and began playing the accordion. He is currently studying at the Weimar Music university with Prof Claudia Buder and is devoting himself to a repertoire of different styles with a focus on contemporary original literature for his instrument.

The 20-year-old student also eagerly arranges and arranges works for accordion solo as well as chamber music. As a scholarship holder of ‘Live Music Now Weimar’, Ingmar Rosenthal has also linked his concert activities to social commitment since 2022. 

The 19-year-old Oliver Bićanić is in his second semester of Prof Claudia Buder's accordion class in Weimar. He was already intensively involved with new music during his time at school, including as a member of contemporary ensembles in collaboration with composers such as Toshio Hosokawa and Ling Hsian Huang.

In 2021, he already competed once at the ‘Accordion Music Prize’ in Ettlingen and won 3rd prize in the ‘Solo Amateur’ category. 

[16 May 2024]