The 8th International Saulius Sondeckis Competition for Young Violinists and Cellists ended with a spectacular gala concert

On June 30, the 8th International Saulius Sondeckis Competition for Young Violinists and Cellists ended with a spectacular gala concert, at the end of which the Grand Prix winners of the competition were announced. The winners of the main prizes were the young violinist from Luxembourg Eloisa Marie Aubert (teacher Zakhar Bron, concertmaster Diana Zlatdinova) and the Latvian cellist Maksims Skibickis (teacher Diana Ozolina, concertmaster Ērika Jäkobsone).
In the spectacular final concert, the audience saw a two-part program. In the first part, the competition laureates and members of the international jury, world-famous performers and teachers – prof. Zakhar Bron, prof. David Geringas, Jorge Gil Garcia, Maurizio Sciarreta, Rolanda Ginkutė – demonstrated their musical talent. The audience greeted the first place winners of the competition with ovations – violinist Eloisa Marie Aubert from Luxembourg (category B) and Lithuanian cellist Maria Sokolova (category C, teacher Onutė Švabauskaitė, concertmaster Sergėjus Liachnovič).
In the second part of the concert, together with the Šiauliai City Symphony Orchestra “Camerata Solaris”, Joseph Haydn’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra No. 1 in C major, Hob, VIIb:1 was virtuously performed by the Grand Prix winner of the competition from Latvia, Maksim Skibickis from Latvia, and Max Bruch’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1, Op 26 was performed by the young Czech violinist, who won first place in category D, Richard Kollert (teachers Zakhar Bron, Jiri Vodička). Conductor Vilhelmas Čepinskis. Host of the concert – Raimonda Sližienė.
In the solemn part of the concert, the prizes were presented to the Grand Prix winners by the Chairman of the Violin Competition Jury, Prof. Zakhar Bron and the chairman of the jury of the cello competition, Prof. David Geringas.
For her long-term organization and idea, the initiator of the competition and long-term artistic director of the competition, Nijolė Prascevičienė, was exceptionally honored, who was awarded the gold medal of the Michaelis Stricharz Foundation (Hamburg) and a letter of thanks. The words of congratulations and thanks were delivered by the Mayor of Šiauliai City Artūras Visockas, presenting the Letter of Thanks to N. Prascevičienė, the assistant to the member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania Eimantas Kirkučis Regina Kvedarienė, the Head of the Šiauliai Education Department Rūta Šiauliai and the director of the Šiauliai Saulius Sondeckis Art Gymnasium Dr. Regina Marozienė.
The 9th International Saulius Sondeckis Young Violinists Competition will be held in 2029.
The organizer of the competition is Šiauliai Saulius Sondeckis Art Gymnasium. The event is partially financed by the Šiauliai City Municipality and the Lithuanian Council for Culture. Project manager Zenonas Ripinskis.
Photo by Gintarė Daknytė.