Second prize for Alexandra Weissbecker in the violin competition

Daniil Gonobolin © Peter Adamik

Huge applause for further winners of the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University Competition: Alexandra Weissbecker won 2nd prize in this year's violin competition. She has been studying at the Eisler since 2022 in Prof Stephan Picard's class. Daniil Gonobolin was also awarded the special prize for the interpretation of the commissioned work. He has been taught by Prof Ulf Wallin since 2024.

Alexandra Weissbecker was born in Marburg and began her musical training with Prof. Julia Vivat at the Special Music School in Kazan, Russia. She studied at the Mozarteum University Salzburg with Prof Pierre Amoyal from 2019 before moving to the Eisler with Prof Ulf Wallin. She has taken part in masterclasses with Boris Kuschnir, Augustin Dumay, Michaela Martin and Kolja Blacher, among others. Alexandra Weissbecker has won prizes at numerous competitions, including first prize at the International Anton Rubinstein Competition 2020 and, together with the EMCY special prize, first prize at the 10th International Louis Spohr Competition 2022. Alexandra Weissbecker has performed with the Jena Philharmonic Orchestra, the Berlin Free Orchestra, the Munich Chamber Orchestra and the State Symphony Orchestra of the Republic of Tatarstan, among others. She plays on a violin by Nicolò Gagliano (1769), which is on generous loan to her from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben.

Violinist Daniil Gonobolin, who comes from Kherson in Ukraine, began his musical education at the music school in his home town and then at the Lysenko Special Music School in Kiev. In 2018, he began studying at the National Academy of Music of Ukraine in the class of Prof Serhiy Shott. In 2022, he was accepted into the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and receives a scholarship funded by AUDI and Lisa Batiashvili. Since the winter semester 2024/25, he has been studying for a master's degree in the class of Prof. Ulf Wallin and Sueye Park. Daniil Gonobolin won first prize at the Stankovych International Violin Competition (2016), first prize at the ProArt International Violin Competition (2018) and first prize at the 1st International Festival-competition named after Bohodar Kotorovych (2021). As a soloist, he has performed with state symphony orchestras from Kiev, Lviv, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Dnipro. In 2023, he made his debut as a soloist with the Georgian Chamber Orchestra at the Audi Summer Concerts.