Filippo Gorini wins the 2015 International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn. Ben Cruchley and Moritz Winkelmann finish second and third.
On December 12th Filippo Gorini was named winner of the 2015 International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn before a sold-out crowd in the Beethovenhalle, finishing ahead of fellow finalists Ben Cruchley and Moritz Winkelmann. In the end, the nine-person jury chaired by Pavel Gililov was won over by Filippo Gorini’s interpretation of Beethoven’s Piano Concert No. 5, accompanied by the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn under the direction of Stefan Blunier. Each of the three finalists had prepared two of Beethoven’s piano concertos and were informed of the piece to be performed in the final immediately following the semi-final round on December 10th.
"I certainly was not counting on winning this distinguished competition. I can hardly describe my feelings at the moment," said winner Filippo Gorini. "I feel very honored to have won, especially with my favorite piece, Beethoven's fifth piano concerto. And I’m very happy to be as well the winner of the audience voting for best final round performance."
"The goal of our competition is to find outstanding artists who engage with Beethoven’s work in their own unique way. I am very pleased with what every one of this year's competitor's has achieved," said Pavel Gililov, Chairman of the Jury and Artistic Director of the competition. "The prize winners, of course, were stand outs. Each of them is a mature artist with unique qualities. Throughout the entire competition, Filippo Gorini demonstrated incredible depth and intensity. In the end he won the competition convincingly and is truly worthy of any support and recognition he receives."
“Once again, several of the world’s best young pianists gave us an exciting, high-class Beethoven experience. From the first round through to the final, audiences were awed and delighted by the virtuosity of the individual performances,” said Timotheus Höttges, Chairman of the Organization Committee and Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Telekom. “I would like to thank all competitors for taking part and taking on this challenge, and congratulate this year’s Beethoven Competition prize winners for their extraordinary accomplishments. As we look ahead to Beethoven's 250th birthday celebration in 2020, we can say that this year’s young competitors are truly worthy ambassadors of this special occasion, which will celebrate the life and legacy of Beethoven, Bonn’s most famous son as one of history's most important composers.”
The winner of the 2015 International Telekom Beethoven Competition Bonn receives € 30,000 in prize money, the second-place finisher € 20,000, and third-place finisher € 10,000. As the winner of this year’s competition, Filippo Gorini will perform in Bonn’s Beethovenhalle again on December 16th at 7 pm as part of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn’s "BeethovenNacht" concert.
Winner of the audience voting for best final round performance was as well Filippo Gorini, who receives € 3,000 in prize money.
For the first time this year, two Beethoven-Haus Prizes were awarded to semi-final contestants – one for the winner of the live-audience voting, and another for the winner of the online voting. The 2015 Beethoven-Haus Prize winners were: Filippo Gorini (live-audience voting) and Dorothy Khadem-Missagh (online voting). Both winners will receive €1,000 in prize money and perform a piano recital in the Beethoven Haus chamber music hall on December 13, 2015. The winner of the live-audience voting will also receive a bronze Beethoven bust by Naoum Aronson donated by Dr. Gudula Neidert-Buech. There are still a few tickets available for this evening of piano music on Sunday at 6 pm.
Brief profiles of the competition finalists and other 19 competitors can be found at http://www.telekom-beethoven-competition.de/en/competition/participants.
Additional information (including news, photo gallery and media library) is available at http://www.telekom-beethoven-competition.de/en.