The 2026 German Business Music Award goes to Benjamin Günst
The Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft has awarded its 2026 Music Prize to the violinist and Eisler School student Benjamin Günst. In addition to prize money of 15,000 euros, the award opens up the opportunity for him to give numerous concert performances as part of the Kulturkreis tour. Benjamin Günst is currently studying for his Master’s degree under Prof. Antje Weithaas, with whom he also completed his Bachelor’s degree.
The competition’s final concert took place on 30 April 2026 with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, conducted by Steven Sloane, in the Great Hall of the Konzerthaus Berlin. The programmes were developed by the finalists Benjamin Günst (violin), Chelsea Guo (piano/soprano) and Sarah Luisa Wurmer (zither) and combined works by, among others, Ludwig van Beethoven, Hildegard von Bingen, Maurice Ravel, Giacomo Puccini and Antonio Vivaldi with three very different artistic approaches – ranging from classical repertoire to new contextualisations and personal arrangements. In the jury’s statement – comprising artistic directors and programme directors of the Kulturkreis Tournee’s partner festivals, specialist advisors and representatives of the Kulturkreis’s Music Committee – it is noted that Benjamin Günst impresses through his authenticity, high technical precision and a distinct musical creativity. His playing is characterised by narrative clarity and artistic mastery; he combines excellent technical skill with a keen sense of musical communication and collaboration.
Benjamin Günst was born in Kiel in 2002 and grew up in a family of musicians. He completed a three-year preparatory course with Prof. Heime Müller at the Lübeck University of Music and has been studying at the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin with Prof. Antje Weithaas since 2021. In 2025 he won the German Music Competition; in 2024 he was awarded first prize, as well as the Audience Prize and Special Prize, at the Max Rostal International Violin Competition. As a soloist and chamber musician, he has appeared at major festivals and collaborated with, among others, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Kiel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kammerakademie Potsdam.
Winning the music prize comes with invitations to the partner festivals: the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Ludwigsburg Castle Festival, the Heidelberg Spring and the Lucerne Festival.
Further information on the music prize can be found on the website of the Cultural Committee of German Business within the BDI.