Liszt Academy pays tribute to the memory of Leó Weiner with a chamber music competition

Nothing better indicates the significance of this contest paying tribute to the one-time teacher of chamber music at the Liszt Academy than the fact that the Bartók String Quartet are among the long list of participants – and winners – of the competition first organized in 1963. This time, founder of the legendary quartet Péter Komlós, violinist and a student of Weiner when he attended the Liszt Academy, has a place on the jury, thus fashioning a living connection between the Weiner heritage and young musicians of the 21st century.

Pianist and professor of the Salzburg Mozarteum Imre Rohmann is chair of the panel for the 2016 competition announced in the following categories: piano duo, string quartet and string trio. Other members of the jury include Márta Gulyás, Gábor Csalog, János Devich, Balázs Fülei, Péter Kováts and Péter Masopust.

Organizers received applications from ten duos, six string quartets and three string trios; young musicians who have graduated from or are continuing studies at secondary and higher education music conservatories in Hungary test their skills in two rounds for all three categories. The three best in each category win pecuniary scholarships, while those coming top also receive the opportunity to perform at concerts both here and abroad. The whole competition is open to the general public (Chamber Hall of the Old Academy of Music): the organizers look forward to welcoming all who are interested in how the spiritual inheritance of Leó Wiener continues to thrive to this day, as well as the world-famous culture of Hungarian chamber music, in productions put on by the youngest generation of musicians.

The competition in the Chamber Hall of the Old Academy of Music begins at 10 am on 11 April with a speech by jury chair Imre Rohmann, then Péter Komlós will remember the great Leó Weiner, following which Bálint Kruppa and Domonkos Csabay – winners of the violin-piano category of the 2013 Weiner Competition – perform the master’s Sonata in F-sharp minor. The awards ceremony concert starts at 7 pm on 15 April. Details of all the rounds can be found at lfze.hu/weiner-verseny-2016.