Young Stars

Since the Beethoven anniversary year in 2020, the Hermann J. Abs Prize for the best interpretation of a work by Ludwig van Beethoven has been awarded as part of the “Jugend musiziert” competition. The prize is awarded by the respective national jury. The prize includes a concert performance of the competition programme in the Chamber Music Hall.

The concert will be recorded by WDR.

With the kind support of the Hermann J. Abs Foundation

The young saxophonist Soran Lind, who has Norwegian and Iranian roots, demonstrates that the saxophone has a great deal to offer in classical music too.

The two bass trombonists, who are scholarship holders of the Studienstiftung, have a mission: to free their instrument from its reputation as a sluggish orchestral instrument and to present it in a new light as a solo instrument. With their varied programme, which ranges from original compositions to exciting arrangements, the pair take the audience on a journey of discovery through the ages.

In collaboration with the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes

The pianist Magdalene Ho first came to international attention in 2023 when she won the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition. Since then, she has captivated audiences on international stages with her profound and expressive playing. Her programmes are heavily influenced by literature, as is the case in Bonn, where she drew inspiration from E.T.A. Hoffmann's 'The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr'.

The multi-award-winning pianist Anna Pismak, who was trained in St Petersburg, Zurich and Berlin and is supported by Sir András Schiff, performs internationally as a soloist and is an artistic assistant at the Zurich University of the Arts.

In collaboration with Sir András Schiff's Building Bridges programme

'Colin Pütz's piano playing combines technical brilliance and expressiveness with a touching naturalness. It is as though the music speaks through him – not staged, not memorised, but coming from the very depths of his being. [...] Whether Beethoven or Chopin, Bach or Schubert – he finds a truth of his own in every phrase,' said pianist and curator Rudolf Buchbinder at the presentation of the prestigious Swiss piano prize, the Prix Serdang 2025, to Colin Pütz.

At the 2022 ARD Competition, the young Japanese quartet Integra drew rapturous applause from the audience with their supple, perfectly balanced yet highly expressive ensemble sound. It was said that such sonic perfection, combined with such maturity of interpretation, was sensational and had not been heard from the Far East since the legendary Tokyo String Quartet.