The WINNER of Princess Astrid International Music Competition 2024 is Sara Dragan!
Sara Dragan, born in 1999, is an award-winning concert violinist who began playing the violin at age 7, under the guidance of her parents. She is currently studying with Zakhar Bron at Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid and performs on a G.B. Guadagnini violin, generously loaned by Florian Leonhard Fine Violins.
Sara has won first prize in around 60 violin competitions, including the Oistrakh, Novosibirsk, NYIAA, Telemann, and K. Lipinski & H. Wieniawski International Violin Competitions. She has performed at prestigious venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall in LA, Konzerthaus Berlin, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Rachmaninoff Concert Hall in Moscow, NFM Wroclaw, NOSPR Katowice, and the Polish Royal Palace in Warsaw. As a soloist, Sara has played with numerous orchestras, including the Prague Chamber Orchestra, Novosibirsk Philharmonic, Wroclaw Philharmonic, Armenian State Symphony, Royal Chamber Orchestra, Martinu Philharmonic, Slovak Sinfonietta, and the Polish Wieniawski Philharmonic Orchestra.
The 1st prize is 160 000 NOK (approximately 15 000 €), and a concert engagement with Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera.Jiayi Chen (28) - The People's Republic of China, won the 2nd prize of 50 000 NOK.Sungmin Cho (23) - Republic of Korea, won the 3rd prize of 25 000 NOK.
Inga Våga Gaustad wins the "Finn Audun Oftedal Scholarship
The best Norwegian candidate on this year's competition was Inga Våga Gaustad, who made it to the top six. She was therefore awarded the Finn Audun Oftedal Memorial Scholarship of NOK 10 000.
At age 17, Inga reached the finals of the Norwegian Broadcasting Company’s ‘Virtuoso’ competition, performing with the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, and Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, among others.
PRINCESS ASTRID IMC 2024:
Period: 9 -12 SEPT 2024
Discipline: Violin
Age limit: Below 30 years at the time of the competition
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Orchestra: Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera