The International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition (german: Internationaler Bach Wettbewerb Leipzig, links=no) is a music competition in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, Germany, held by the

Bach-Archiv Leipzig The Bach-Archiv Leipzig or Bach-Archiv is an institution for the documentation and research of the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach. The Bach-Archiv also researches the Bach family, especially their music. Based in Leipzig, the city where ...

. It was founded in 1950 and was held every four years from 1964 to 1996 with five subjects and is now held every two years with three changing subjects violin / baroque violin, piano, harpsichord or in the fields of voice, cello / baroque violoncello and organ. From 1965 the competition is a member of the

World Federation of International Music Competitions The World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) is an organization based in Geneva, Switzerland that maintains a network of the internationally recognized organisations that aim to discover the most promising young talents in classi ...

in Geneva.

Prizes

Prizes for participants: The Prize winners have the right to use the title "Bach Prize Winners".

Prizewinners

Prize winners have included: * Harpsichordists:

Pieter-Jan Belder Pieter-Jan Belder (born 19 January 1966) is a Dutch instrumentalist in historically informed performance, playing recorder, harpsichord and fortepiano. He founded the ensemble Musica Amphion for recordings and performances. Career Born in Cape ...

(2000), Andrew Rosenblum (2018) * Pianists: Tatiana Nikolayeva, Margarita Fyodorova, Jörg Demus,

Waldemar Maciszewski Waldemar Maciszewski (1927–1956) was a Polish pianist and composer. Macizewski was born in Warsaw in 1927. He trained under Zbigniew Drzewiecki at the underground Warsaw Conservatory throughout World War II and at the Cracow State Music Academ ...

(1950), Igor Lazko (1964), Valery Afanassiev, Svetlana Navasardyan, Ivan Klansky (1968),

Kei Itoh Kei Itoh is a Japanese pianist. Itoh graduated at the Tōhō Gakuen Daigaku in 1977, finishing her studies at the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Musikhochschule Hannover. She won the 1979 Epinal and 1983 Munich Competitions. She has been awarded th ...

(1980), Ueli Wiget (1984), Nikolai Luganski (1988),

Ragna Schirmer Ragna Schirmer (born 1972) is a German classical pianist.
on Bach Cantatas Website

Life

(1992 & 1998),

Cornelia Herrmann Cornelia Herrmann (born in 1977) is an Austrian pianist. Life and career Born in Salzburg, Herrmann comes from a Salzburg family of musicians. At the age of eight, she was admitted to the Mozarteum University Salzburg in the class of Anton Czjz ...

Christopher Hinterhuber Christopher Hinterhuber (born 28 June 1973) is an Austrian classical pianist. Biography and career Hinterhuber was born in Klagenfurt, Austria, and studied with Rudolf Kehrer and Heinz Medjimorec at the university for Music in Vienna, and with ...

(1996),

Miku Nishimoto-Neubert Miku Nishimoto-Neubert is a classical pianist. Born in Tokyo, she studied at the Tokyo University of the Arts (Geidai). On a recommendation of Karl-Heinz Kämmerling she completed her studies in Hanover, Hannover at the Hochschule für Musik und T ...

(1998),

Martin Stadtfeld Martin Stadtfeld (born 19 November 1980 in Gackenbach) is a German pianist. Stadtfeld gave his first concert at age 9, and at age 14 enrolled at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt under the tutelage of Russian-Am ...

(2002),

Irina Zahharenkova Irina Zahharenkova (born 23 February 1976 in Kaliningrad) is an Estonian pianist and harpsichordist trained at the Estonian Academy of Music and the Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Aka ...

(2006),

Ilya Poletaev Ilya, Iliya, Ilia, Ilja, or Ilija (russian: Илья́, Il'ja, , or russian: Илия́, Ilija, ; uk, Ілля́, Illia, ; be, Ілья́, Iĺja ) is the East Slavic form of the male Hebrew name Eliyahu (Eliahu), meaning "My God is Yahu/ Jah." ...

(2010),

Hilda Huang Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. The ...

(2014),

Paul Posnak Paul Posnak is an American pianist and music academic. He is noted for playing repertoires mixing twentieth-century American music with European romantic classics, ranging from George Gershwin to Frédéric Chopin, from classical to jazz. His tran ...

* Organists:

Amadeus Webersinke Amadeus Webersinke (1920-2005) was a German pianist and organist. Webersinke studied from at the Institut für Kirchenmusik in Leipzig with Karl Straube, Johann Nepomuk David, and Otto Weinreich (pianist), Otto Weinreich. He was a lecturer at t ...

, Karl Richter,

Diethard Hellmann Diethard Hellmann (28 December 1928 – 14 October 1999) was a German Kantor and an academic in Leipzig, Mainz and Munich. Professional career Born in Grimma, Dietmann Hellmann was a member of the Thomanerchor. He studied church music in Leipzig ...

(1950),

Daniel Chorzempa Daniel Walter Chorzempa (born December 7, 1944) is an American organist, composer and architect. Biography Chorzempa was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and subsequently studied music and architecture at the University of Minnesota and further ...

(1968),

Hans Fagius Hans Gustav Fagius, né Andersson (born 10 April 1951), is a Swedish classical organist and pedagogue. Biography Fagius was born in Norrköping and studied organ with Bengt Berg before entering the Royal College of Music, Stockholm, where he studie ...

(1972),

Matthias Eisenberg Matthias Eisenberg (born 15 January 1956) is a German concert organist and harpsichordist, and a cantor. The award-winning player is known for performing concerts with clarinetist Giora Feidman. He has performed and conducted master classes interna ...

(1976),

Jaroslav Tůma Jaroslav Tůma (born 1956, in Prague, Czech Republic) is a Czech organist. This organist, clavichord, harpsichordist and pianoforte player graduated from the Prague Conservatory and from the Faculty of Music of the Academy of Performing Arts in Pr ...

(1980),

John Scott John Scott may refer to: Academics * John Scott (1639–1695), English clergyman and devotional writer * John Witherspoon Scott (1800–1892), American minister, college president, and father of First Lady Caroline Harrison * John Work Scott (180 ...

(1984), Balint Karosi (2008) * Violinists:

Alexei Gorokhov Aleksey Nikolaevich Gorokhov (russian: Алексей Николаевич Горохов; ua, Олексій Миколайович Горохов; February 11, 1927, Moscow - February 3, 1999) was a Soviet violinist who lived most of his profes ...

(1950),

Oleg Kagan Oleg Moiseyevich Kagan (Russian: Оле́г Моисе́евич Кага́н; 22 November 1946 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russian SFSR – 15 July 1990, Munich, West Germany) was a Soviet violinist, known for his chamber collaborations with such musicia ...

(1968), Hiroko Suzuki,

Johannes Ludwig Von Schwartz Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as " John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Y ...

(1984),

Marat Bisengaliev Marat Bisengaliev ( kk, Marat Sämetūly Bisenğaliev, born 1962 in Kazakhstan) is a Kazakh violinist and conductor of both the West Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra and TuranAlem Kazakhstan Philharmonic Orchestra. He is the founding Music Dire ...

(1988), Rachel Barton (1992),

Shunsuke Sato is a Japanese-born, classical and baroque violinist. He has been the concertmaster and artistic director of the Netherlands Bach Society since 2018. Early life and education Sato was born in Tokyo, Japan. When he was two years old, on a f ...

(2010) * Cellists:

Alexander Rudin Alexander Israilevich Rudin (born 1960) is a Russian classical cellist and conductor. Biography and career Rudin was born in 1960, in Moscow, and he studied piano and cello at the Gnessin Institute before later studying conducting at the Moscow ...

(1976),

Michael Sanderling Michael Sanderling (born 21 February 1967) is a German conductor and violoncellist. Biography Born in East Berlin, Michael Sanderling is the son of the contrabassist Barbara Wagner and the conductor Kurt Sanderling. He received his first cel ...

(1988),

Richard Harwood :''Richard Harwood is also the assumed name of National Front member Richard Verrall.'' Richard Craig Harwood (born 8 August 1979) is a British cellist. Biography Richard Harwood was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire and began learning to p ...

(2004) * Flutists: Matthias Rust, Alison Mitchell (1984) * Singers:

Bruce Abel Bruce Abel (25 July 1936 – 10 March 2021) was an American bass singer. Biography Abel studied singing at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City under Hans Heinz, where he excelled in studies of French art songs and German lieder. He ...

(1964), Gábor Németh (1976),

Jadwiga Rappé Jadwiga Rappé (born 24 February 1952) is a Polish operatic contralto, born in Toruń. Rappé studied Slavic philology at the University of Warsaw and voice at the Wroclaw Music Academy. In 1980 she was awarded first prize at the International B ...

(1980), Bogna Bartosz (1992),

Simone Kermes Simone Kermes (born 17 May 1965, in Leipzig) is a German coloratura soprano, especially known for her virtuoso voice, suited to the opera seria genre of the Baroque and early Classical period. Career Kermes has performed at many importa ...

Christoph Genz Christoph Genz (born 1 March 1971 in Erfurt) is a German tenor in opera and concert. Career Christoph Genz was a member of the Thomanerchor. He studied music at King's College, Cambridge, where he was a member of the King's College Choir. He s ...

Ekkehard Abele Ekkehard Abele is a German operatic bass-baritone. He first gained recognition when he won the International Bach Competition in Leipzig in 1996. Since then, he has recorded a number of works by Bach under such conductors as Tobias Ziemlichklein Hi ...

(1996),

Jan Kobow Jan Kobow (born 1966) is a German classical tenor in concert, Lied, and Baroque opera. Professional career Jan Kobow was born and raised in Berlin. He was a singer and soloist of the ''Staats- und Domchor, Berlin'' with Christian Grube. He stud ...

(1998),

Franziska Gottwald Franziska Gottwald (born in Marburg) is a German mezzo-soprano singer in opera and concert. Career Franziska Gottwald received her first voice training at the age of 16 with Eugen Rabine and studied voice at the Academies of Music in Saarbr� ...

(2002),

Dominik Wörner Dominik Wörner (born 1970) is a German classical bass singer in concert, Lied and opera. He is a specialist in Baroque music, especially works by Bach, but is open to music of other eras including contemporary music. Career Born in Grünstadt ...

(2002), Markus Flaig (2004),Hongyi Cai(2022)

Jury

President: Robert D. Levin (since 2002) Members of jury have included: * Pianists:

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

(1950), Jan Ekier (1964), Paul Badura-Skoda (2006),

Bruno Canino Bruno Canino (born 30 December 1935) is an Italian classical pianist, harpsichordist and composer. Early life Bruno Canino was born in Naples, Italy in 1935, where he studied piano with Vincenzo Vitale. He continued his musical education in ...

(2006), Malcolm Bilson (chairmaster of pianists – 2010),

João Carlos Martins João Carlos Gandra da Silva Martins (); born June 25, 1940, in Sao Paulo, Brazil) is an acclaimed Brazilian classical pianist and conductor, who has performed with leading orchestras in the United States, Europe and Brazil. He is celebrated a ...

(2010),

Bernard Ringeissen Bernard Ringeissen (born 15 May 1934) is a French classical pianist. He was born in Paris in 1934. His first teacher, at age 7, was Georges de Lausnay. He entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in 1947, aged 12, and won the Pr ...

(2010),

Tamás Vásáry Tamás Vásáry (; born 11 August 1933) is a Hungarian concert pianist and conductor. Biography and career Vásáry was born in Debrecen, Hungary, and made his stage debut at the age of 8, performing Mozart's Piano Concerto in D major, K.107 ...

(2010),

Fanny Waterman Dame Fanny Waterman (22 March 192020 December 2020) was a British pianist and academic piano teacher, who is particularly known as the founder, chair and artistic director of the Leeds International Piano Competition. She was also president of ...

(2010) * Harpsichordists: Magdalena Myczka (2000, 2010), Bob van Asperen (2006), Lars Ulrik Mortensen (2006), Masaaki Suzuki (2006), Richard Egarr (2010), Robert Hill (chairmaster of harpsichordists – 2010), Andrea Marcon (2010),

Andreas Staier Andreas Staier (born 13 September 1955 in Göttingen) is a German pianist and harpsichordist. Life Staier studied piano and harpsichord in the Hochschule für Musik in Hanover and Amsterdam. He studied piano with Kurt Bauer and Erika Haase, an ...

(2018) * Organists: Bronisław Rutkowski (1964, died during the competition),

(2012),

Ton Koopman Antonius Gerhardus Michael Koopman (; born 2 October 1944), known professionally as Ton Koopman, is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orches ...

(chairmaster – 2012) *

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer, and musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on historically info ...

has served as a juror in the vocal category in 2012 * Violinists:

Reinhard Goebel Reinhard Goebel (; born 31 July 1952 in Siegen, West Germany) is a German Conducting, conductor and baroque violin, violinist specialising in early music on Historically informed performance, authentic instruments and professor for historical perf ...

(2018)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Music competitions in Germany Events in Leipzig 1950 establishments in East Germany