VIOLIN 2023
Semifinalist
Lorenz Karls was born in Vienna into an Austrian-Swedish family. He began playing the violin at age 4 and, since 2016, has been a student at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where he is completing bachelor’s degree with Professor Benjamin Schmid. Lorenz also studied at the Stauffer Center for Strings in the class of Salvatore Accardo. Additionally, he has attended masterclasses with artists such as Julia Fischer, Maxim Vengerov, and Vadim Repin.
Lorenz has won numerous top prizes at national and international competitions. He received 1st Prize at the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition in China, and 1st Prize at the Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition in Belgium. In addition, in 2020 to 2022, he also won four 3rd Prizes at Member competitions of World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC).
His recent soloist appearances include his debut at “Mozartwoche Salzburg” in the great hall of the Mozarteum Foundation, and concerts with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Odense Symphony Orchestra, WDR Funkhausorchester, Lithuanian Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Bern, and Kremerata Baltica.
Lorenz plays the Giovanni Battista Guadagnini “ex-Bachmann” violin, kindly loaned to him from the Viktoria and Stephan Schmidheiny Foundation.
Principal teachers
- Benjamin Schmid, 2016 – 2022
- Salvatore Accardo, 2019 -2021
Major Competitions
- 1st Prize, Zhuhai International Competition, 2022
- 3rd Prize, Seoul international Music Competition, 2022
- 3rd Prize, Tibor Varga International Violin Competition, Switzerland 2021
- 3rd Prize, International Mozart Competition, Salzburg, 2020
- 3rd Prize, Khachaturian International Competition, Armenia 2020
- 2nd Prize, Postacchini Violin Competition, Italy, 2019
Programme
FIRST ROUND
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH Violin Sonata No.1 in G minor, BWV 1001
II. Fugue
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Sonata for Violin and Piano in B-flat major, K.454
I. Largo
II. Andante
EUGÈNE YSAŸE Violin Sonata No. 6 in E major, Op. 27
I. Allegro giusto non troppo vivo
SEMIFINAL
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 4, Op. 23
I. Presto
II. Andante scherzoso, più Allegretto
III. Allegro molto
LUNA PEARL WOOLF L’Inconnu.e bouleversant.e
FRANZ SCHUBERT Rondo Brillant in B minor Op. 70, D. 895
HENRYK WIENIAWSKI Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 15
Pianist: Philip Chiu
Lorenz Karls is generously sponsored by the Caisse de la culture Desjardins.
