Emily Beynon (Great Britain / Netherlands)
Emily Beynon has been principal flute of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam for thirty years. As a soloist, in addition to appearing with her home orchestra, she has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the BBC orchestras, the NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokyo, and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. She has recorded fifteen studio albums, made numerous radio recordings, and has also appeared in several television documentaries. A passionate advocate of contemporary music, she has championed composers such as John Woolrich, Sally Beamish, Jonathan Dove, Guillaume Connesson, Roxanna Panufnik, and Maarten Ornstein. She regularly gives masterclasses around the world. Her series of educational videos, published on her YouTube channel during the pandemic, met with outstanding success. From 2009 to 2021, she served as Artistic Director of the Netherlands Flute Academy (NEFLAC).

Christina Fassbender (Germany)
From 1996 to 1999, she was a member of the Münchner Rundfunkorchester, and from 1999 to 2012 she served as principal flute of the Komische Oper Berlin. She has also collaborated with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Berlin, and the WDR Symphony Orchestra. Her solo career has taken her to concert stages in Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, Norway, Chile, Costa Rica, the United States, and Canada. She is a regular guest at flute festivals, including the Italian FALAUT Festival and the Finnish Crusell Music Festival. Alongside her performing career, she has long been devoted to teaching. In 2012, she accepted a professorship at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster; in March 2015, she moved to the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg; and since October 2017, she has been Professor of Flute at the Universität der Künste Berlin.

Davide Formisano (Italy, Germany)
Born in Milan, Davide Formisano is the first Italian laureate of the prestigious ARD International Music Competition in Munich. Between 1995 and 2012, he successively held positions with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg, Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in the Netherlands, and for five years served as principal flute of the Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala. In 2012, he decided to leave the orchestral world in order to devote himself fully to solo and chamber music. His concert activity has taken him throughout Europe as well as to Asia, North and South America, in collaboration with artistic partners such as Philipp Moll, Fabio Biondi, Daniel Barenboim, Riccardo Muti, James Galway, Philippe Entremont, and Thomas Sanderling. As a soloist, he has appeared with leading orchestras including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, the Tonhalle Ensemble in Zurich, and the Filarmonica della Scala, with whom he took part in a world tour in 2004. Since 2007, he has been Professor of Flute at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart.

Barthold Kuijken (Belgium)
A specialist in the Baroque transverse flute and the recorder, Barthold Kuijken originally studied the modern flute at Bruges Conservatoire and at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague. The chance discovery of a Baroque flute and his subsequent study of original instruments in museums and private collections, and also 17th and 18th century sources, led him to early music and his specialisation in performance on Baroque instruments. He has collaborated with René Jacobs, harpsichordists Robert Kohnen and Gustav Leonhardt and violinist Lucy van Dael. He was a member of Collegium Aureum for many years, and he still performs in La Petite Bande. At the same time, he was also a member of the Mons-based ensemble Musiques Nouvelles with its focus on contemporary music. He has made recordings for Sony Classical, Harmonia Mundi (today BMG), Accent and Opus 111. His scholarly work includes a new annotated Urtext edition of Johann Sebastian Bach’s flute compositions for Breitkopf & Härtel. He teaches Baroque flute at the Royal Conservatories in Brussels and The Hague.

Václav Kunt (Czech Republic)
After ten years as a member of the Orchestra of the National Theatre Brno, Václav Kunt’s artistic career came to focus primarily on solo and chamber performance. For twenty-three years, he was principal flute of the Prague Chamber Orchestra, which performs without a conductor. As a soloist, he has appeared in many countries worldwide, including Germany, Austria, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Italy, the United States, Canada, and Japan. His artistry is documented on dozens of radio and studio recordings (Harmonia Mundi, Praga Digitals, Orfeo, or Supraphon). Chamber music occupies a special place in his work, whether in partnership with piano, harpsichord, harp, or in other instrumental combinations. He is also deeply committed to teaching. He is Professor of Flute at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno and also teaches at the Grammar and Music School of the Capital of Prague. He regularly leads international performance courses both in the Czech Republic and abroad.

Jan Ostrý (Czech Republic)
Jan Ostrý has built his career as a solo performer and pedagogue. He has appeared at major European music festivals including Styriarte, Pierre Boulez Days in Lyon, the Haydn Festival Eisenstadt, and the International Flute Festival Maastricht, and made his debut at the famous Concertgebouw Amsterdam. In the 1999–2000 season, he served as principal flute of the Orchestre National de Lyon, and from 2001 to 2002 held the same position at the Norwegian National Opera. He has contributed to numerous recordings for labels and broadcasters, including Studio Matouš, Supraphon, Naxos, Nimbus Records, Czech Radio, ORF, France Musique, and AVROTROS Klassiek. He currently teaches at the Prague Conservatory, the Faculty of Arts of the University of Ostrava, and the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien. He has led masterclasses at the Nice Summer International Academy, the Universität fur Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Lyon. For more than twenty years, he has been a permanent member of the teaching staff of the European Flute Academy in Fiss, Austria.

Joonas Ahonen (Finland)
Joonas Ahonen, Professor at the University of Music and Dance Cologne, was a member of Klangforum Wien for twelve years, during which time he collaborated with composers such as Tristan Murail and Beat Furrer. He is well known to Prague audiences for his outstanding performance of György Ligeti’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with Klangforum Wien at Prague Offspring 2023, and has also performed Unsuk Chin’s Piano Concerto with the Basel Sinfonietta and George Crumb’s Makrokosmos at the Salzburg Festival, among others. Equally at home in the music of the 20th and 21st centuries as in works of the 18th and 19th centuries, he also performs on the fortepiano. Since 2024, he has served as Artistic Director of the Finnish ensemble Avanti!, which specialises in contemporary music. He is also an artistic partner of the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, with whom he has appeared at venues and festivals including Teatro alla Scala, the Vienna Konzerthaus, Toppan Hall in Tokyo, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, and the Prague Spring Festival 2025.

Dina Yoffe (Latvia, Germany)
A laureate of the International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw and the Robert Schumann International Competition in Zwickau, Dina Yoffe has, over the course of her distinguished concert career, performed with ensembles and conductors such as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra with Zubin Mehta, the NHK Symphony Orchestra with Sir Neville Marriner, and Kremerata Baltica with Gidon Kremer. She has appeared at major festivals and in prestigious concert halls across Europe, including the Barbican Centre in London, Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, and the Royal Palace in The Hague, as well as in Japan (notably Suntory Hall in Tokyo) and the United States. A former professor at universities in Tel Aviv and Aichi (Japan), she is currently a Visiting Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and Professor at the EuroArts Academy. She has also given masterclasses at the Royal Academy of Music in London and in Salzburg as part of the Mozarteum International Summer Academy. An honorary member of the Chopin Society in Warsaw, she has served on the juries of piano competitions in Cleveland, Hamamatsu, Barcelona and Weimar.

Leonel Morales (Spain)
The Cuban–Spanish pianist Leonel Morales combines a successful concert career – which has taken him to such major venues as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Centre in New York, the Kennedy Centre in Washington, the Beethovensaal in Stuttgart, and many other prestigious concert halls across Europe, Asia and the Americas – with an exceptionally prolific pedagogical activity. He is currently a professor at the Salzburg Summer Academy, the Alfonso X el Sabio University, and the Forum Musikae School of Music in Madrid. He has given masterclasses in Austria, Italy, France, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Croatia, Mexico, South Korea, China, Japan, and the United States. Every year, dozens of students travel to attend the International Masterclass and Piano Festival “Leonel Morales & Friends” in Granada, which he founded. He has served on the juries of international competitions in Cleveland, Lyon, Grosseto, Vienna, Shanghai, San Remo, Rio de Janeiro, and Shenzhen. He is the founder and Artistic Director of the María Herrero International Competition in Granada and of the International Piano Competition “Spanish Composers” in Madrid. In 2008, he was awarded the prestigious Italian Tasto d’Argento Award for his artistic achievements.

Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń (Poland)
The Polish pianist of Bulgarian origin, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, is Professor at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. She has given masterclasses in Poland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan and China, and has served on the juries of numerous prestigious international piano competitions. She chaired the jury of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in two consecutive editions, in 2015 and 2021. Among her renowned students are Rafał Blechacz, Jarred Dunn, and Lü Tianyao, a finalist of the 2025 Chopin Competition. For her outstanding contribution to and achievements in the field of classical music, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń has received a number of state honours, including the “Zasłużony Kulturze Gloria Artis” Medal.

Martin Kasík (Czech Republic)
His victories at the Prague Spring International Music Competition 1998 and the Young Concert Artists Competition in New York 1999 opened the door to leading concert stages around the world, including Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Suntory Hall in Tokyo, and the Berlin Philharmonie. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Singapore Philharmonic, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK), working with conductors such as Marin Alsop, Yakov Kreizberg, Ingo Metzmacher, Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, Libor Pešek, Jakub Hrůša, and Tomáš Netopil. His recordings for Supraphon and Arco Diva have received awards and critical acclaim in leading music journals, including Gramophone, Répertoire, and Harmonie. For several years, he has been passing on his experience to young pianists as a teacher at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and at the Prague Conservatory, and he is also Artistic Director of the Chopin Festival in Mariánské Lázně.

Ivo Kahánek (Czech Republic)
The overall winner of the Prague Spring International Music Competition 2004, Ivo Kahánek, has collaborated with leading orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bamberg Symphony, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. His repertoire ranges from the Baroque to the 21st century, with a particular focus on Romantic music. Internationally, he is regarded as a specialist in the interpretation of works by Czech composers, especially Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, and Bohuslav Martinů. He made his debut at the BBC Proms in 2007 and has worked with conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Semyon Bychkov, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Jiří Bělohlávek, Zdeněk Mácal, and Jakub Hrůša. His recordings for Supraphon, for which he has been an exclusive artist since 2007, have received numerous awards, including the BBC Music Magazine Award, Diapason d’Or, Choix de Classique, and nominations for the Opus Klassik and the International Classical Music Award. He is actively involved in a wide range of educational projects, including the MenArt Academy, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and the Prague Conservatoire, where he was appointed Director in 2025. He is Patron of the Harmonie Endowment Fund and a member of the PETROF Art Family.

🪈 Flute

Altare, Federico (ITA)
Alvin Besson, Mathilde (FRA)
Bahng, Yeseul (KOR)
Baruch, Evyatar (ISR)
Blažková, Michaela (CZE)
Büchi, Clara (DEU)
Celeste, Tomás (PRT)
Cermak, Alma (DEU)
Črnugelj, Metka (SVN)
Daverio, Iris (FRA)
Dompablo, Laura de (ESP)
Delivicheva, Avigea Louisa (AUT)
Dinh, Khoi (USA)
Hadaš, Jelena (HRV)
Cha, Chaehyeon (KOR)
Chao, Anne (TWN)
Chen, Hsin-Yu (TWN)
Chen, Yian (CHN)
Choi, Yeji (KOR)
Chung, Channie (KOR)
Jang, Yeoshin (KOR)
>Kim, Haeun (KOR)
Kim, Chan (KOR)
Kim, Yegeon (KOR)
Kossakowski Baladrón, Gala (ESP)
Lambert-Mora, Célia (FRA)
Lee, Judy (KOR)
Lim, Yena (KOR)
Martins Gil, Melanie (PRT)
Mastrototaro, Gabriele (ITA)
Metzger, Maël (FRA)
Michálková, Eliška (CZE)
Min, Yechan (KOR)
Nylander, Ethan (USA)
Park, Hye Ryoung (KOR)
Piskořová, Alexandra (CZE)
Pyun, Dain (KOR)
Redlich, Kathi (DEU)
Rozas Ramallal, Silvia (ESP)
Senica, Dorotea (SVN)
Shen, Melody (USA)
Schulte, Moritz (DEU)
Sim, Euna (KOR)
Tutić, Ana (HRV)
Vodáková, Tereza (CZE)
Wang, Yajie (CHN)
Yoon, Seoyeong (KOR)
Yoon, Soo Jung (KOR)

🎹 Piano

Bae, Jae Sung (KOR)
Cai, Yangrui (CHN)
Deng, Yubo (CHN)
Feng, Caoyuan (CHN)
Gast, Julian (DEU)
Ge, Cherry (SGP)
Cha, Junho (KOR)
Chen, Xuehong (CHN)
Cho, Hyeon Seo (KOR)
Choi, Girim (KOR)
Choi, Wooseok (KOR)
Chung , Seungho (KOR)
Jeon, Jaehyun (KOR)
Ji, Hyun-Gyu (KOR)
Jung, Chanyeon (KOR)
Jung, Jiwon (KOR)
Kim, Ahin (KOR)
Kim, Nohyoung (KOR)
Kim, Yonghee (KOR)
Kubota, Sota (JAP)
Kuronuma, Karen (JAP)
Lee, Gichang (KOR)
Lee, Hyunji (KOR)
Lim, Seo Jun (KOR)
Luo, Jie (CHN)
Moon, Seongwoo (KOR)
Noh, Heeseong (KOR)
Park, Haerim (KOR)
Park, Hanbit (KOR)
Park, Chaelin (KOR)
Park, Jooyoung (KOR)
Son, Sehyeok (KOR)
Takezawa, Yuto (JAP)
Tani, Qianlin (CHN)
Tao, Ziye (CHN)
Tie, Shunshun (CHN)
Tkadlčíková, Eliška (CZE)
Wang, Zhiquan (CHN)
Ye, Zifan (CHN)
Yoon, Joonsuh (KOR)
Yu, Byeongju (KOR)
Zhu, Hanyuan (CHN)

Jury

Flute: Philippe Bernold (France), Emily Beynon (Great Britain), Christina Fassbender (Germany), Barthold Kuijken (Belgium), Václav Kunt (Czech Republic), Jan Ostrý (Czech Republic) and Karl-Heinz Schütz (Austria)

Piano: Joonas Ahonen (Finland), Daniel Browell (Great Britain), Dina Joffe (Latvia), Ivo Kahánek (Czech Republic), Martin Kasík (Czech Republic), Leonel Morales (Spain) and Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń (Poland)

The repertoire and requirements are available here.
The deadline for applications is December 1, 2025.

Overview of awards

1st Prize: Yuya Mizuno

2nd Prize: Till Schuler

3rd Prize: Alexandra Kahrer

Honourable Mentions of the Jury awarded after Round II

• Seungyeon Baik
• Constantin Heise
• Sanghyeok Park

Audience Prize: Alexandra Kahrer

Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Prize: Tae-Yeon Kim

Czech Music Fund Foundation Prize for the best performance of the Sonata No. 5 „Frammenti e Canto“ by Pavel Zemek Novák: Alexandra Kahrer

Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Prize: Yuya Mizuno

Prize of the City of Prague: Yuya Mizuno

Bärenreiter Prize: Yuya Mizuno

Performance at the Festival EuroArt Praha during the 2025–2026 season: Till Schuler

Performance at the 81st Prague Spring International Music Festival in 2026: Yuya Mizuno

Let us remind you that a record number of 203 cellists registered for this year’s Prague Spring Competition. “I think I speak on behalf of all my dear colleagues, we have spent fantastic ten days listening to extremely high standard of playing, of commitment, of passion, and of love of music and of our wonderful instrument, the cello. For everybody who has been lucky enough to play tonight, it is a prize enough just to play Dvořák in this great and historic space where Dvořák himself would listen to music,” said jury chairman Raphael Wallfisch.

The performances of the three finalists during the final evening, which took place on May 14 in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, accompanied by the Prague Symphony Orchestra and conductor Marek Prášil, can be viewed on the YouTube channel of the Prague Spring. The winner was chosen by a jury consisting of Raphael Wallfisch (UK, jury chair), Maria Kliegel (Germany), Marc Coppey (France), Natalie Clein (UK), Michal Kaňka (Czech Republic), Tomáš Jamník (Czech Republic) and Ľudovít Kanta (Slovakia).

The partners of the competition were: Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Capital City of Prague, and the ČEZ Foundation.

Overview of awards

1st Prize: not awarded

2nd Prize: Fedor Osver

3rd Prize: Pedro Moreira

Honourable Mention of the Jury of the First Grade: Leandro Lazzari

Audience Prize: Fedor Osver

Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Prize: not awarded

Prize of the City of Prague for the most successful laureate: Fedor Osver

Bärenreiter Prize: Fedor Osver

Performances with the Pilsen Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2025–2026 season: Pedro Moreira

The winners also received several concert opportunities not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad.

Let us remind you that a record number of 254 oboists registered for this year’s Prague Spring Competition. “All three finalists represent years of hard work, practice and dedication to their artistry and we thank them for inspiring us with their musicianship,” says the jury chair Nancy Ambrose King.

In the final rounds, Jiří Gemrot’s Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra and Bohuslav Martinů’s Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra H 353 were performer, accompanied by the Prague Philharmonia and conductor Robert Kružík. The winner was chosen by a jury consisting of Nancy Ambrose King (USA, jury chair), Fabien Thouand (France), Clara Dent-Bogányi (Austria), Kalev Kuljus (Estonia), Vilém Veverka (Czech Republic), Jan Souček (Czech Republic) and Johannes Grosso (France).

The entire final evening, which took place on May 13 in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, can be viewed on the YouTube channel of the Prague Spring

The partners of the competition are: Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Capital City of Prague, and the ČEZ Foundation.

In the finals, all three finalists will perform identical compositions. First, they will perform a selection from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suite No. 4 in E-flat major, BWV 1010, followed by Antonín Dvořák’s Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in B minor, Op. 104, accompanied by the Prague Symphony Orchestra and conductor Marek Prášil. All tickets for the final contest of the three best cellists of this year’s competition are sold out, but you can watch it live online on the YouTube channel of the Prague Spring.

Honourable mentions were awarded to Seungyeon Baik and Sanghyeok Park from the Republic of Korea and Constantin Heise from Germany. The Czech Music Fund Award for the best performance of a composition written for the Prague Spring International Music Competition 2025 – Sonata No. 5 per violoncello solo “Frammenti e Canto” by Pavel Zemek-Novák – went to Alexandra Kahrer from Austria. The Bohuslav Martinů Prize for the best performance of Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 H 286 went to Tae-Yeon Kim from the Republic of Korea.

The final round of the 2025 Prague Spring Competition in the violoncello category will take place on Wednesday, 14 May, at 6 p.m. in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum. The results are expected around 11:30 p.m. The winner will be selected by a jury consisting of Raphael Wallfisch (UK, jury chair), Maria Kliegel (Germany), Marc Coppey (France), Natalie Clein (UK), Michal Kaňka (Czech Republic), Tomáš Jamník (Czech Republic) and Ľudovít Kanta (Slovakia).

The partners of the competition are Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Capital City of Prague, and the ČEZ Foundation.

For more information follow us on our Facebook a Instagram.

In the finals, all three will perform Jiří Gemrot’s Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra, accompanied by the Prague Philharmonia and conductor Robert Kružík. For the second part of the evening, each of them has chosen Bohuslav Martinů’s Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra H 353. You can watch the final contest of the three best oboists of this year’s competition live online on the YouTube channel of the Prague Spring. It is also still possible to come to the Rudolfinum in person to cheer them on. Members of the audience will not only experience the great, almost sporting atmosphere of the final round, but will also have the chance to win tickets to one of this year’s Prague Spring Festival concerts.

Tickets for the second round can be purchased on-site or through the festival’s website.

The Honorable Mention and the Czech Music Fund Award for the best performance of a composition written for the Prague Spring International Music Competition 2025, Jen tak pro sebe na hoboj (Playing the Oboe Plainly to Oneself) by Jan Klusák, went to Iria Folgado Dopico from Spain. The CultureTone Foundation Prize was awarded to Clara Maria Schweinberger from Germany.

The final round of the 2025 Prague Spring Competition in the oboe category will take place on Tuesday, 13 May, at 6 p.m. in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum. The results are expected around 10 p.m. The winner will be selected by a jury consisting of Nancy Ambrose King (USA, jury chair), Fabien Thouand (France), Clara Dent-Bogányi (Austria), Kalev Kuljus (Estonia), Vilém Veverka (Czech Republic), Jan Souček (Czech Republic), and Johannes Grosso (France).

The partners of the competition are Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Capital City of Prague, and the ČEZ Foundation.

For more information follow us on our Facebook and Instagram.

Watch the 2nd round of the competition.

Cha Danbi (Republic of Korea)

Heise Constantin (Germany)

Kahrer Alexandra (Austria)

Kim Tae-Yeon (Republic of Korea)

Lee Jeri (Republic of Korea)

Lee Yeong-Kwang (Republic of Korea)

Lee Youbien (Republic of Korea)

Mizuno Yuya (Japan)

Park Sanghyeok (Republic of Korea)

Schuler Till (Germany)

Wang Yasen (China)

The Round II will take place on Sunday, May 11, starting at 9.30 am in the Bohuslav Martinů Hall at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (HAMU).

Each contestant will perform four pieces: The first movement of a sonata by Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, or Fryderyk Chopin. A solo piece by Mieczysław Weinberg, Krzysztof Penderecki, György Ligeti, or Elliott Carter. A sonata by Bohuslav Martinů, Sergei Prokofiev, Francis Poulenc, or Miloslav Kabeláč and a new composition by Pavel Zemek Novák, Sonata No. 5 “Frammenti e Canto”, written especially for this year’s competition.

You can find the detailed schedule of the Round II HERE.

Tickets for the second round can be purchased on-site or through the festival’s website.

If you can’t attend in person, you can also watch the performances of the individual semifinalists online.

For more information, follow us on our Facebook a Instagram.