Congratulations to the Winners of the 2021 Radda Rise International Violin Competition!
Keep scrolling to check out the live winners announcement, the winners’ recital, and the winners’ biographies.
ABOUT Radda Rise Competitions
Radda Rise Competitions are dedicated to fostering the musical growth of rising musicians through unique educational opportunities. Aside from just cash prizes, we’re passionate about providing an experience through which young musicians can enhance their musical careers. Within our competitions, each applicant receives a free Radda video review of their competition recordings prior to the judging round along with the option to resubmit new recordings for the judges based on the feedback from their Radda Reviewer. Applicants can choose between several different languages for their reviews. After the competition, applicants have additional educational opportunities such as post-competition live chats with the judges about their performances and ongoing mentorship with the judges.
The First Radda Rise International Violin Competition took place in 2021 and was open to young violinists throughout the world who were 18 years old or under at the time of the competition.
Category 1: Up to 9 years old
Category 2: 10-13 years old
Category 3: 14-18 years old
Live Winners Announcement on March 21st, 2021
Winners’ Recital on March 28th, 2021
Meet the Winners of Category 1
1st Prize of Category 1
Aleksandr Kolesnikov
8 years old, Russia
Learn more about Aleksandr and see his performances of Kabalevsky’s Violin Concerto and Elgar’s Salut d’amor, Op. 12
2nd Prize of Category 1
Yugo Maeda
9 years old, California, USA
Learn more about Yugo and see his performances of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, K.207 and Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro in the style of Pugnani
3rd Prize of Category 1
Zarema Sitshayeva
9 years old, Ukraine
Learn more about Zarema and see her performances of J.S. Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 and J.S.Bach-Gounod’s Ave Maria
Honorable Mention of Category 1
Angela Yoneyama
8 years old, California, USA
Learn more about Angela and see her performances of Vivaldi’s Spring and Kreisler’s Rondino on a Theme of Beethoven
Rising Star Award
Emilia Anastasijević
5 years old, Serbia
Learn more about Emilia and see her performances of J.S. Bach’s March in D Major and Baklanova’s Mazurka
Meet the Winners of Category 2
1st prize of Category 2
Natalia Dragan
12 years old, Poland
Learn more about Natalia and see her performances of Korsakov/Zimbalist’s Concert Phantasy on ‘Le coq d’or’ and Wieniawski’s Études-Caprices, Op. 10, No. 2 “Le Vélocité”
2nd Prize of Category 2
Elisabeth Terentieva
13 years old, Germany
Learn more about Elisabeth and see her performances of J.S.Bach’s Allemanda and Corrente from Partita No. 2 in D Minor and Wieniawski’s Polonaise de concert, Op. 4
3rd prize of Category 2
Denise Kaiser
12 years old, Germany
Learn more about Denise and see her performances of Sarasate’s Introduction and Tarantella and Telemann’s Fantasie No. 10, TWV 40:23
Honorable Mention of Category 2
Vivian Lu
13 years old, California, USA
Learn more about Vivian and see her performances of Saint-Saëns’s Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso and J.S. Bach’s Tempo di Bouree from Partita No. 1
Meet the Winners of Category 3
1st prize of Category 3
Julia Jones
16 years old, New York, USA
Learn more about Julia and see her performances of Ysaÿe’s Sonata for Solo Violin in E Major and Ravel’s Sonata No. 2 in G Major
2nd Prize of Category 3
Dana Bostedt
18 years old, Germany
Learn more about Dana and see her performances of Franck’s Sonata in A Major 655 and Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op. 47
3rd prize of category 3
Darius Preuss
16 years old, Germany
Learn more about Darius and see his performances of Ysaÿe’s Violin Sonata No. 3, “Ballade” and Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor
Honorable Mention of Category 3
Sidney Wong
15 years old, New York, USA
Learn more bout Sidney and see her performances of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G Major and Bach’s Partita No. 3 in E Major, Gigue
The Judges
Manhattan School of Music Precollege Program
Elizabeth Faidley
The Juilliard School PreCollege Program
Pala Garcia
Eastern washington University
Dr. Julia Salerno
The Reviewers
Karim Ayala Pool
Mia Detwiler
Nikki Naghavi
Allie Pritchard