Prizes Awarded at Lithuania's 2021 Heifetz Violin Competition

22-year-old Javier Comesaña from Spain has been awarded 1st prize at the 2021 Heifetz International Violin Competition, in Vilnius, Lithuania

A student of Marco Rizzi at the Reina Sofía School of Music, Javier is a former 1st prize winner at the Violins for Peace and Marcos Pedro Moreno Jiménez International Violin Competitions. He will receive €10,000 plus a number of performance opportunities.

 JAVIER COMESAÑA | BRUCH | SCOTTISH FANTASY | 4TH MVT | MODESTAS BARKAUSKAS & LITHUANIAN NATIONAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA | 2021 HEIFETZ INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION | 1ST PRIZE

2nd and 3rd prizes were awarded to 24-year-old Eva Rabchevska from Ukraine and 24-year-old Manon Galy from France.

The first two rounds of this year's competition were held via online submission with the final round held live this week at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society with conductor Modestas Barkauskas and the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra.

Violinist Qingzhu Weng from China was awarded the special prize for the best interpretation of Lithuanian composer Giedrius Kuprevičius' “The Strings and Fingers” in the second round of this year's competition, held in February online. 

The 2021 jury comprised: Gidon Kremer, Isabelle Van Keulen, Sergej Krylov, Rūta Lipinaitytė, Svetlana Makarova, Rusnė Mataitytė, and Goran Končar.

Previous prize winners include VC Young Artists Dmytro Udovychenko and Rennosuke Fukuda.