is open to every musician from all over the world with a focus on classical music, folk/traditional music, jazz and musical. It is dedicated to promote musical culture under the banner of world peace and understanding among nations. The competition will be held in the following disciplines for classical music: piano, strings, wind instruments, plucked instruments, accordeon, percussion, voice, Lied duo, piano duo and chamber music. As well as folk/traditional/baroque music instruments, jazz and musical. Each discipline is divided into different age categories: Youth, Junior, Intermediate, Advanced, Senior and Amateur. There is no age limit for the participants.
All competitors are required to submit video recording materials for the audition and qualified judges will evaluate them. The final selection of winners will be based solely on the video recordings submitted. Multiple winners will be chosen in each of the disciplines.
Jury members 2025:
Mrs Caroline Fischer is the artistic director and jury chairwoman of the 9. Rising Stars Grand Prix 2024. The concert pianist has given concerts in major concert halls: Philharmonie Berlin, Konzerthaus Berlin, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Vienna Musikverein, Vienna Konzerthaus, Carnegie Hall New York, Teatro Municipal de Las Condes Chile, Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica, Casa de la Música de Quito, Ecuador, Teatro Centro de Arte Ecuador de Guayaquil, Ecuador, Teatro Nacional Benjamín Carrión Mora de Loja, Ecuador, Teatro Nacional Rubén Darío Nicaragua, Seoul Arts Center, Kumho Art Hall Seoul, Woori Financial Art Hall Seoul, Beijing Forbidden City Concert Hall, Shenzhen Concert Hall, Xinghai Concert Hall, National Theater Bangkok, and Thailand Cultural Centre. Ms Fischer has played with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Korean Chamber Ensemble, Berliner Symphoniker, Baden-Baden Philharmonie, Neues Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orquesta de Cámara de Valdivia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Loja, Orquesta Filarmónica Municipal de Guayaquil, and National Symphony Orchestra of Ecuador and at the International Steinway Festival, the EXPOs in Hanover and Yeosu, the Beethoven Festival Bangkok, the Korean Festival Seoul, and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival. She has won 39 prizes and awards as well as 16 fellowships. Ms Fischer has released five CD albums to date (Genuin Classics) and is the Head of Department University preparation classical music at the School of Music Berlin Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Germany.
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Prof. Peter Steijvers has been professor of oboe and chamber music since 1978 and head of the chamber music department of Maastricht Conservatory, Netherlands since 2008. He became also the chair of the final assessment committee of Bachelor- and Master of music. He studied with Koen van Slogteren. Since 1977 he has been the principal oboist of the Limburg Symphony Orchestra Maastricht and has also performed as a soloist with various chamber orchestras and ensembles in the Netherlands and abroad. Prof. Steijvers is also active as a conductor, appearing regularly with the chamber ensemble of the Limburg Symphony Orchestra, as well as conducting the full orchestra in a series of youth concerts as well as organizing important festivals: The night of Classical Music and the yearly Festival of Chamber Music.
Mr Stefan Wagner is a member of the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (2. trombone). From 2004-2007 he was the assistant principal trombone in the Rundfunkblasorchester Leipzig and worked as a principal trombonist of the Saxony Philharmonic Wind Orchestra. He studied at the “Hanns Eisler” Academy of Music Berlin with Harald Winkler and at the University of Arts Berlin with Joachim Mittelacher and Stefan Schulz, where he received his Konzertexamen diploma. He is also holding a diploma in Early Music from the University of Music and Theatre Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Leipzig. Mr Wagner has given concerts in many European countries as well as in Asia and South America.
Mrs Esther Feustel is a member (2. violins) of the Deutsche Oper Berlin. She studied in Berlin and Mannheim under the guidance of Tomasz Tomaszewski, Dora Bratchkova and Marco Rizzi. She held a scholarship from the Landessammlung Baden-Württemberg and won the “Chairmen’s Award“ of the European Union Youth Orchestra. In 2012 she became the principal of 2nd violins in the Philharmonische Staatsorchester Mainz, before becoming a member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin in 2015. She has played as a guest with various orchestras such as the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Deutsche Radiophilharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern, and the World Orchestra for Peace. Since 2017 she is also a member of the Estonian Festival Orchestra.
Mr Timo Schabel is a member of the ensemble of the Staatsoperette Dresden. He studied in Mannheim with Prof. Dr. Alejandro Ramírez. He has received further trainings from KS Angelika Kirchschlager, Oly Pfaff and Kobie van Rendsburg. He was formerly engaged by the Staatstheater Oldenburg. Previously he was seen on stage i.a. as Pedrillo, as Mime in Wagner’s Rheingold, Camille de Rosillon and Orpheus in Offenbach’s Orphée aux enfers. Outside of Opera, Timo Schabel is also a passioned Lied and Oratorien singer with repertoire including several Bach cantatas and passions as well as Handel’s Messiah, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater or Rossini’s Petit Messe Solenelle.
Mr Vladimir Tolpygo, who will join our jury, is a member (First violins) of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. 2012-2013 he was a violinist in the SWR Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart and a member of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester till 2016. Mr Tolpygo studied with Sergei Fatkulin, Sergey Arutyunyan, Roman Nodel in Mannheim and in Karlsruhe with Laurent Albrecht Breuninger, where he received his Konzertexamen diploma. He has won prizes at a number of national and international competitions: Prémio Jovens Músicos, Júlio Cardona, International Competition of Young Performers, Pietro Argento and Andrea Postacchini International Violin Competition.
Former jury member:
Prof. Paul Dan (1944-2023) was a professor for piano and chamber music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Mannheim, Germany since 1978. The well-known pianist studied with renowned Florica Musicescu (teacher of Dinu Lipatti and Radu Lupu). He was a prize winner at the International Bach Competition Leipzig and gave concerts in Europe, North and South America, Africa, East Asia (Japan, Taiwan), South Asia (Thailand, India) and the Middle East. Prof. Dan performed inter alia with the Wiener Symphoniker, Stuttgarter Symphoniker, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonics and Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra.
Prof. Georg Sava (1933-2024) was a professor for piano at the Berlin University of the Arts since 1979 and the “Hanns Eisler” School of Music Berlin, Germany since 1997. He studied piano at the municipal conservatory in Târgu Mureș and at the Gheorghe Dima Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca with György Halmos. He was active as a pianist, teacher and jury member in international music competitions.
