Anna Komarova wins 1st Int. Fürstenau Flute Competition in Münster
Anna Komarova from St. Petersburg wins the 1st International Fürstenau Flute Competition in Münster, Westphalia. Third prize each goes to Leonardo Hernández from Mexico and Luna Vigni from Italy.
The three prizewinners played the finale with the Münster Symphony Orchestra under Eyal Ein-Habar, the artistic director of the competition, in the theatre of the cathedral city. The programme included Leonard Bernstein's work "Halili" and the 8th Flute Concerto by Anton Bernhard Fürstenau, the competition's namesake, who comes from Münster. The Fürstenau Competition was organised by the GWK Society for Westphalian Cultural Work and the Münster Academy of Music in cooperation with the Münster Symphony Orchestra and made possible by the Volksbank im Münsterland and the Werte-Stiftung-Münsterland.
36 highly talented young flutists had qualified for participation in the Fürstenau Competition with their live recording of the compulsory pieces by Fürstenau and J. S. Bach. They came from 21 countries - from the USA to Russia, from Ukraine to South Africa, from Mexico to Sweden, from Portugal via South Korea and Germany to China. 35 had entered the public competition at the Musikhochschule and the Münster Theatre. A preliminary jury with Prof. Eyal Ein-Habar, Prof. André Sebald, Friederike Wiechert-Schüle and Tamar Romach had selected the candidates to be invited to Münster on the basis of their application videos. The jury of the three-stage competition in Münster was made up of internationally renowned flutists who are also active as teachers: Prof. Davide Formisano, Carlo Jans, Prof. Anne-Cathérine Heinzmann and Sarah Louvion, as well as the Dean of the Münster University of Music, Prof. Stephan Froleyks, and the General Music Director of the City of Münster and Chief Conductor of the Münster Symphony Orchestra, Golo Berg.
The Fürstenau Competition promotes excellent young flutists with an outstanding artistic personality on their way to an international career. In the final, the 28-year-old Anna Komarova from St. Petersburg inspired the jury, orchestra and audience alike with her full, yet extremely differentiated tone, outstanding creative power, technical sovereignty and compelling stage presence. Komarova's 1st prize is endowed with 10,000 € and additionally with performances in concert series of the GWK. The two 3rd prize winners each receive € 5,000 in prize money. A 2nd prize was not awarded.
The Fürstenau Flute Competition is named after Anton Bernhard Fürstenau, one of the most renowned German flute virtuosos of the first half of the 19th century. He was born in Münster in 1792 and died in Dresden in 1852 as a member of the court orchestra. At the time, he was compared to Paganini and Liszt. Early on, as a "child prodigy", he had gone on concert tours with his father as a duo. As was customary at the time, Fürstenau wrote much of his soloist repertoire himself. The competition named after him is intended to recall Anton Bernhard Fürstenau, whose etudes no flute student can still get around today, as a composer of the early Romantic period.
International Fürstenau Flute Competition
The International Fürstenau Flute Competition will be held for the first time in Münster, Westphalia, in 2023. Flutists from all over the world who are between 17 and 30 years old can participate in the competition. 84 flutists from all over the world have applied, and a maximum of 40 of them will be selected by a jury and invited to the competition in Münster.
With the IFFC, the GWK and the Münster University of Music, in cooperation with the Münster Symphony Orchestra and renowned jurors, want to support highly talented young flutists on their way to an international career. They are financially supported by the Volksbank Münsterland Nord and the Werte-Stiftung-Münsterland.
The IFFC is looking for outstanding artistic personalities, flutists who inspire through podium maturity, extraordinary musicality, expressive and creative power, joy of playing, intellectual penetration of the musical text and technical brilliance. The award is given to authentic characters that fascinate the connoisseur and the expert, grip the enthusiast and the amateur, and thus make classical music an experience as music-for-today and an exciting alternative to the musical mainstream.
The IFFC is named after the flute virtuoso, composer and teacher Anton Bernhard Fürstenau (1792 Münster - 1852 Dresden). Known throughout Europe as a musician in his day, Fürstenau is now to be brought back into the general consciousness as a composer of the early Romantic period whose works have repertoire value, and the virtuoso flute repertoire is to be expanded through the dissemination of his compositions.
The jury consists of the flutists and teachers Prof. Davide Formisano, Prof. Anne-Cathérine Heinzmann, Prof. Carlo Jans and Sarah Louvion, the General Music Director of the City of Münster and Chief Conductor of the Münster Symphony Orchestra, Golo Berg, the Dean of the Münster University of Music, Prof. Stephan Froleyks, and the Director of the GWK Society for Westphalian Cultural Work, Dr. Susanne Schulte. Initiator and artistic director of the IFFC as well as conductor of the Münster Symphony Orchestra in the finals is Prof. Eyal Ein-Habar, professor of flute at the Münster University of Music.
The competition will take place in three rounds in presence and with a pre-selection round via video. In addition to selection pieces, the IFFC program includes compulsory pieces by Anton Bernhard Fürstenau and a commissioned composition by Thorsten Schmid-Kapfenburg. These and all further information can be found on the competition page of the IFFC.
