The Tokyo International Viola Competition is a viola competition established in 2009. It is the first Asian competition dedicated exclusively to the viola and is held in conjunction with Viola Space, a three-year violin festival founded in 1992 by Nobuko Imai. [1]
In addition to the financial recognition for the three winners, several special prizes are awarded, including instruments and strings donated for the event, prize for the public vote, prize for the best interpretation of a Japanese composition and invitations to play at various international festivals.
| Edition | Year | 1st Prize | 2nd Prize | 3rd Prize | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2009 |  Sergej Malov |  Dimitri Murrath |  Veit Bebedikt Hertenstein | [2] |
| 2 | 2012 |  Wenting Kang | Barbara Buntrock |  Kimi Makino | [3] |
| 3 | 2015 |  Andrea Burger | Kei Tojo |  Louise Desjardins | [4] |
| 4 | 2018 |  Luosha Fang |  Sejune Kim | Ziyu Shen | [5] |
The Aviv String Quartet was founded in Israel in 1997, and has performed internationally for over 15 years. Among the quartet's various awards are the DaimlerChrysler Grand Prize at the 3rd Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition and top prizes at the Bordeaux and Schubert Competitions. The Aviv Quartet has recorded 3 discs of Shostakovich on Dalia Classics and 2 Naxos discs of Hoffmeister and Schulhoff. Recent highlights include a complete Shostakovich cycle at the 2007 Verbier Festival, debuts at the Zurich Tonhalle and Brussels Palais des Beaux-Arts and return visits to Wigmore Hall.
The Hagen Quartet is an Austrian string quartet founded in 1981 by four siblings, Lukas, Angelika, Veronika and Clemens, in Salzburg. The quartet members are teachers and mentors at the Salzburg Mozarteum and the Hochschule für Musik Basel. The ensemble made its Salzburg Festival debut in 1984. The complete recordings of the Mozart string quartets were released in 2006. In the 2012–2013 season, the Hagen Quartet performed the complete Beethoven cycle in New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, Salzburg and Vienna. They performed, between December 2013 and August 2017, on the four famous Stradivarius instruments played previously by the Paganini Quartet, the Cleveland String Quartet, and the Tokyo String Quartet, respectively. Those instruments are now being played by the Quartetto di Cremona.
Gilad Karni is an Israeli violist who has played in the New York Philharmonic and is currently principal viola in the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as well as a soloist and player in chamber ensembles. A founder member of the Huberman Quartet, with which he made his debut at Carnegie Hall, he has since appeared there with the Guarneri Quartet.
Jennifer Stumm is a concert violist, professor of viola at the University of Music and Arts of the City of Vienna and director of the Ilumina Festival in São Paulo.
The Miami String Quartet is an American string quartet. The group was founded in 1988 at The New World School of the Arts by John de Lancie in Miami, Florida. The Quartet was in Residence at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, where all four members served as faculty members in the School of Music, and two still remain. The Quartet was the Grand Prize winner at the Fischoff competition, First Prize winners of the Concert Artists Guild competition, and prize winners at the London and Evian International Quartet Competitions. They were awarded the Cleveland Quartet Award and were named to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center II Residency as well. The Miami Quartet has served as Artists in Residence at the Hartt School and Florida International University and perform and teach at the Kent Blossom Music Festival every summer.
The Tokyo Anime Awards started in 2002, but was named in 2005. The first, second and third award ceremonies were simply named 'Competition'. The award ceremonies were held at the Tokyo International Anime Fair (TAF) until 2013. In 2014, after the merger of the Tokyo International Anime Fair with the Anime Contents Expo and the formation of the AnimeJapan convention, the Tokyo Anime Awards was changed into a separate festival called Tokyo Anime Awards Festival (TAAF).
Rainbow Reel Tokyo, until 2016 known as Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, also known by the acronym TILGFF, is an international film festival for LGBT audiences, held annually in Tokyo, the capital city of Japan.
The Primrose International Viola Competition (PIVC), also referred to as the Primrose Memorial Scholarship Competition (PMSC), is an international music competition for viola players sponsored by the American Viola Society and named for the 20th-century virtuoso William Primrose.
The Henschel Quartet is a German string quartet comprising the Henschel siblings; Christoph and Markus (violinists), Monika (viola) and Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj (cellist), who joined them in 1994. Brother Markus left the quartet in 2010, and was succeeded by Daniel Bell in 2012. In 2016–2018 Catalin Desaga took the place of the second violin. Today the Quartet consists of following members: Christoph Henschel and Teresa La Cour (violinists), Monika Henschel (viola) and Mathias Beyer-Karlshøj (cello).
The Cassatt String Quartet was founded in 1985. Originally the first participants in Juilliard's Young Artists Quartet Program, the Quartet has gone on to win many teaching fellowships and awards and has toured internationally. Named after impressionist painter Mary Cassatt, the quartet is based in New York City.
The Danish Quartet is a name which has been carried by four Danish quartets:
Dobrinka Tabakova is a Bulgarian-British composer.
Sanjeewa Pushpakumara is a Sri Lankan film director, screenwriter and producer.
Kyuhee Park is a classical guitarist who was born in Incheon, South Korea and raised in South Korea and Japan.
Koji Fukada is a Japanese film director and screenwriter.
Hong-Mei Xiao is a Chinese-born American violist. She won first prize at the Geneva International Music Competition, and is a recipient of the Patek Philippe Grand Prize. Hong-Mei Xiao's career as an international soloist comprises critically acclaimed performances in major concert halls and with orchestras of great distinction throughout the world. An award winning recording artist, her CDs have been released by labels such as Delos Productions and Naxos Records. She was also honored as a United States Artistic Ambassador.
Hermann Voss is a German violist, painter and puppet player. From 1975 to 2005 he taught viola and chamber music at the State University of Music and Performing Arts Stuttgart. Voss played the viola in the Melos Quartet for 40 years.
Barbara Buntrock is a German violist and music educator.
The Danish String Quartet made its debut at the Copenhagen Summer Festival in 2002. The group is known for its performances of classical music as well as its own renditions of traditional Nordic folk music. The quartet has also worked with an extensive range of contemporary Scandinavian composers.
The Carl Flesch International Violin Competition (also known as the International Competition for Violinists "Carl Flesch" and the City of London International Competition for Violin and Viola (Carl Flesch Medal)) was an international music competition for violinists, and later viola players, held between 1945 and 1992 in London. Founded in honour of the Hungarian violinist Carl Flesch, it was originally organised by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and after 1968 formed part of the City of London Festival. Particularly in the City of London Festival era, it was regarded as among the "most prestigious" competitions for string players, and "one of the most important testing grounds for aspiring soloists up to the age of 32."
