Trombone final - the winners have been announced

(cs) Three challenging and exciting selection tests paved the way for the three best competitors to reach the final round on Thursday, 9 May 2024 in the Markneukirchen Music Hall. There, Gonçalo Nova (Portugal), Tim Ouwejan (Netherlands) and Botond Drahos (Hungary) once again presented themselves to the seven-member international jury. With the Concerto No. 2 in A major for trombone and orchestra by Eugen Reiche, they once again demonstrated their masterly skills and delighted the numerous guests. They were accompanied and musically supported by the Vogtland Philharmonic Orchestra Greiz/Reichenbach under the direction of their chief conductor Dorian Keilhack.

At the end of the evening, the president of the competition, Prof Christian Lampert, announced the jury's decision to award first, second and third prizes:

1st prize winner ............................................................ Botond Drahos (Hungary)

2nd prize winner ............................................................. Tim Ouwejan (Netherlands)

3rd prize winner ............................................................. Gonçalo Nova (Portugal)

The three winners will once again perform a cross-section of the works from the various rounds of the competition at the prizewinners' concert on Saturday, 11 May 2024. First prize winner Botond Drahos will perform the work from the final round, Concerto No. 2 in A major for trombone and orchestra by Eugen Reiche. The second and third prize winners, Tim Ouwejan and Gonçalo Nova, will present themselves to the audience with ‘Posaunenmangel’ by Nils Wogram - the commissioned work of this year's trombone competition - and with ‘Rhythm in blue for trombone and piano’ by Daniel Schnyder. Tickets for the prizewinners' concert are available at the box office for 18 and 15 euros respectively.

Tomorrow, Friday 10 May 2024, the three finalists in the oboe category will perform at 7.00 pm in the Markneukirchen Music Hall. Seongye Ma (South Korea), Raquel Pérez-Juana Rodríguez (Spain) and João Silva (Portugal) will perform Richard Strauss' Concerto in D major for oboe and small orchestra. The finalists will also be accompanied by the Vogtland Philharmonic Orchestra Greiz/Reichenbach under the direction of Dorian Keilhack.

Tickets for the oboe final can be purchased at the box office for 5 euros.

The prize winners in the trombone category

1st prize: Botond Drahos (Hungary), born 20.06.2003

Botond Drahos was born in 2003 in Kaposvár, Hungary. He started playing the trombone at the age of nine.

Botond has already taken part in many competitions, both in Hungary and abroad, where he has achieved great success. As a student at the Hanover University of Music, he received a special prize at the Michel Becquet International Trombone Competition and the Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2023. He also won 1st prize at the international trombone competition ‘Citta di Porcia’, which took place in Pordenone, Italy, in 2023.

Since 2022, he has been studying at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media in the trombone class of Professor Jonas Bylund and Tomer Maschkowski.

Botond gained his first orchestral experience with the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra from 2019 to 2021, the Royal Concertgebouworkest Young from 2020 to 2021 and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra since 2019.

2nd prize: Tim Ouwejan (Netherlands), born 29/04/2000

Tim Ouwejan, born on 29 April 2000 in Arnhem, Netherlands, is currently principal trombonist with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra. In the 2021/2022 season he was academist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Tim has just completed his bachelor's degree with honours at the Amsterdam Conservatory and is currently completing his master's degree there with Jörgen van Rijen, Pierre Volders and Remko de Jager. Tim is co-founder of the Nymphéas trombone quartet, which he founded together with three friends and colleagues from the same conservatory. He has won prizes at several competitions.

3rd prize: Gonçalo Nova (Portugal), born 18/08/2003

Gonçalo Nova, 20 years old, is the winner of the 1st prize of the International Music Competition ‘Prague Spring’ 2023. In addition, he has won several competitions since 2013, in particular the first prize in the trombone category at the ‘Prémio Jovens Músicos 2023 RTP - Antena 2’, the largest competition for classical music in Portugal, and the first prize at the ‘Gilberto Gagliardi Competition’ 2022 of the International Trombone Association in the USA, the 1st prize at the International Music Competition ‘Grands Artistes - Les Musicales du Centre’ 2019 in France and many others. Prize at the International Music Competition ‘Grands Artistes - Les Musicales du Centre’ 2019 in France and many others.

Born in Porto, Portugal, Gonçalo Nova began his music studies in trombone at the age of six at the ‘Conservatório de Música do Porto’ with Prof. Joaquim Oliveira, where he later completed his major in music with top marks. Since 2021, he has been studying for a bachelor's degree in trombone with Prof. Fabrice Millischer at the Freiburg University of Music.

As far as orchestral work is concerned, he was 1st trombonist of the Stuttgart State Orchestra in the 2022/2023 season and has recently worked with the Munich Philharmonic and the Freiburg Philharmonic as a guest in the position of 1st trombonist. He works as a guest with orchestras and ensembles such as the ‘Orquestra de Extremadura’ in Spain. He is currently also a member of the EBE trombone ensemble.

As a soloist, he has had the opportunity to perform with the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, the Gulbenkian Orchestra and the ‘Orquestra do Norte’. In March 2024 he gave a live solo concert for RTP - Antena 2, the largest classical music radio station in Portugal, and in April 2024 for the Banatul Philharmonic Orchestra in Timisoara.

He has had the opportunity to work with great trombonists and musicians such as Joseph Alessi, Filipe Alves, Stefan Schulz, Christopher Houlding, Ben van Dijk, Jeremy Wilson and Jean-Philippe Navrez.