Toronto violist Emad Zolfaghari has been chosen to compete within the 79th Concours de Genève later this 12 months. He’s one in all 38 violists who’ve been chosen from a discipline of 91 candidates who submitted their purposes for 2025.
The 20-year outdated is among the many youngest of the opponents, and the one musician to come back from Canada.
“We’re proud to current 38 fantastic younger violists from across the globe. The competitors desires to problem them, assist them develop their stage persona and enlarge their perspective. The preselection course of was already a proof of the nice spirit on the Concours de Genève,” says Tabea Zimmerman, Chair of the Jury, in a press release.
Quick details in regards to the competitors:
- The competitors was open to violists who have been born after November 12, 1995, and the typical age is 23.3;
- There’s a 50/50 cut up between women and men candidates chosen to carry out within the on-line recital;
- Of the 38, 17 of the candidates are from Europe, 13 from Asia, 7 from the Americas, and 1 from
Africa.
The primary official spherical takes place from September 8 to 14, 2025, and can take the type of a web based recital that audiences can stream from the Concours de Genève’s YouTube channel.
The Semi-Closing and Closing Rounds of the Competitors might be held from November 6 to 12 in Geneva, and might be livestreamed on Concours de Genève’s web site and social media channels, with the ultimate going down in Geneva’s Victoria Corridor with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
The prizes are:
- 1st Prize: CHF 20,000 (approx. $33,600 CAD)
- 2nd Prize: CHF 12,000 (approx. $20,000 CAD)
- third Prize: CHF 8,000 (approx. $13,400 CAD)
Emad Zolfaghari, viola
Emad Zolfaghari hails from Oakville, Ontario. Emad studied on the Phil and Eli Taylor Efficiency Academy for Younger Artists in Toronto earlier than coming into the Curtis Institute of Music in 2021 on the age of 16, the place he presently research because the Elaine W. Camarda and A. Morris Williams Jr. Fellow.
He’s a previous member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and has carried out as a soloist with l’Orchestre Métropolitain on the Maison Symphonique in Montréal underneath the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Nationwide Philharmonic in Strathmore Corridor, the Oakville Chamber Orchestra, and the Nationwide Metropolitan Philharmonic.
Zolfaghari isn’t any stranger to competitions — or wins. Previous successes embody:
- First prize on the 2023 Irving M. Klein Worldwide String Competitors;
- The François Schubert Grand Prize on the 2022 OMNI Music Competitors;
- Second prize on the 2022 Johansen Worldwide String Competitors;
- Second prize on the 2021 Ronald Sachs Worldwide Music Competitors;
- First prize on the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra Competitors.
In 2023, he turned the primary violist to obtain first prize on the Worldwide Morningside Music Bridge Competitors.
He presently performs a 1700 Matteo Goffriller viola on mortgage from the Rachel Barton Pine Basis, and a 1786 Lorenzo Storioni viola and Eugène Sartory bow on mortgage from CANIMEX, inc.
Better of luck to Emad as he prepares for the primary spherical of on-line recitals.
- Discover extra particulars in regards to the Concours de Genève [HERE].
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Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. Beforehand, she was a contract author with a specialty in tradition and journey for 3 many years, and a artistic writing teacher for Ontariolearn.