Interviews

During the recent ICMA General Assembly at the Liechtenstein Music Academy, violinist Chouchane Siranossian spoke about a new project that aims to implement new methods of teaching improvisation. Here is her slightly abridged speech.

First of all, thank you very much for the invitation. It is a real honour for me to be here presenting this new research project that we are working on. It’s called ‘Non Sei Solo’.Why Non Sei Solo? Of course, it’s a reference to Sei Solo, the sonatas and partitas of Johann Sebastian Bach. It’s a very tricky title because, first of all, if you see it as Italian title, Sei Solo, it’s actually a mistake because it would be Sei Soli. And why Sei Solo? Because it means also ‘you are alone’, and Johann Sebastian Bach was alone when he came back home after one of his few trips. Read More →

Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda won this year in the ICMA category ‘Concertos’ with his Hyperion recording ‘War Silence,’ with the Concerti di Fano, Dallapiccola, Omizzolo, and Carrara. Jury member Nicola Cattò from the Italian magazine Musica made the following interview with the pianist.

You are very attached, as a performer and teacher, to the Italian repertoire: Can you tell me about that?
As pianists, we are fortunate to have such a vast repertoire, yet many people always focus on the same pieces. I, on the other hand, believe it is wise, even from a professional point of view, to promote lesser-known pieces that deserve to be (re)discovered. Read More →

Hungarian Péter Zombola is Composer of the Year of the ICMA (International Classical Music Awards). Alongside this prestigious honor, it was recently announced that his work will represent Hungary at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) festival. Ahead of the gala concert in Bamberg and his masterclasses in the United States, Máté Ur – representing the Hungarian jury member Papageno—spoke with him about professional validation, personal loss, and his affinity for large-scale forms.

 The ICMA award and the ISCM invitation arrived almost simultaneously. How did this double international success resonate with you?
It is an absolutely reinforcing feeling. It sends a message that, at the age of four, I made the right decision to choose the vocation of a composer. Since both forums rely on strictly professional and independent juries to decide on awards and selected works, there is hardly any greater validation for a composer. This news gave me a tremendous amount of energy—the reassuring knowledge that I am in the right place in my life. Read More →

The Pavel Haas Quartet has won an ICMA 2026 award in the chamber music category for its Supraphon recording of Martinů quartets. The jury noted that « the musicians masterfully reveal the very different characters of Quartets Nos. 2, 3, 5, and 7. The recordings capture the full range of emotions contained in the pieces, from energetic tension to lyrical melancholy. » Peter Jarůšek, cellist with the Pavel Haas Quartet, gives more details about this album and the interpretation in an interview with jury member Pierre-Jean Tribot from the Belgian magazine Crescendo.

This album features Martinů’s quartets Nos. 2, 3, 5, and 7. I assume this is the first step toward a complete recording? 
It’s not like that. The idea to perform a complete cycle of Martinů’s works first came from John Gilhooly, the director of Wigmore Hall. He asked us to perform all seven of Martinů’s quartets. Read More →

Leonardo García Alarcón (La Plata, 1976) received the Artist of the Year Award at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) gala at the Tonhalle in Düsseldorf. . Conductor, expert in the Baroque repertoire, composer of a Passion according to Jesus, founder of Capella Mediterranea, head of the Chamber Choir of Namur and responsible for the theater La Cité Bleue in Geneva, the Argentine maestro spoke with Luis Suñen from ICMA Jury member Scherzo.

What does this award mean to you?
Faced with an award of this caliber, and at 48 years of age, I find it a little difficult to look back. I suppose it’s normal because I’m in the middle of doing, building, creating. At first it was a very, very big surprise, but then I began to look around me and feel very grateful for everything I have received from so many people throughout my career. Read More →

The young Turkish pianist Can Çakmur has achieved a rare success in the history of the ICMA: after winning the Young Artist of the Year Award in 2021 and the Solo Instrument Award in 2020, Çakmur has now won the ICMA Award for the third time in five years with his third recording in the Schubert+ series. Hale Tetik from the ICMA Jury member Andante made the following interview with the young pianist.

You were awarded the Solo Instrument Award for 2025 by ICMA, the International Classical Music Awards. Could you tell us what this award means to you?
ICMA is one of the leading organizations in the musical world. For all the winners, labels, producers and artists, it is a stamp of quality. While producing, we work constantly under feelings of uncertainty. There is no real formula to make a good, convincing recording. Read More →

The Danel Quartet wins the 2025 International Classical Music Awards in the Chamber Music category with their album dedicated to Dmitri Shostakovich’s string quartets, released by Accentus. Here is an interview with the Romanian violist Vlad Bogdănaș, a member of the Danel Quartet since 2004, done by Ariadna Ene-Iliescu from the ICMA Jury member Radio Romania Muzical

 How did you and your colleagues from the Danel Quartet react when you found out that you had won the International Classical Music Awards for the Chamber Music category with your album of Shostakovich’s String Quartets?
I was so happy that our work is being recognized by professionals. It means a great deal to us, especially after all the studying, rehearsing and performing. We try to create something we believe in and enjoy. If both the audience and professionals like our music, then we see it as a success. Read More →

The winner of the ICMA-Classeek award 2025 is the Italian cellist Ettore Pagano. He came to the instrument as a self-taught and, after winning various competitions, he achieved today’s fame.  Giulia Vazzoler from the Italian ICMA Jury member Musica made the following interview with him.

Bolognese mother, Neapolitan father, Ettore Pagano grew up in the Sabina countryside, in Poggio Mirteto, in a family of six children. He approached the cello at the age of nine, self-taught, picking up an instrument found at home and “given up” by one of his brothers. His was a gradual, spontaneous approach, which had no (at least in the initial phase) academic projects. And yet, from that moment on, Ettore Pagano turned everything he touched into gold. Read More →

In the Video Opera category, the ICMA jury awarded the prize to a production that critics, especially Germans, have argued fiercely about before: Die Fledermaus, staged in Munich in December 2023 by Barrie Kosky with Vladimir Jurowski conducting and singers such as Diana Damrau, Georg Nigl, Martin Winkler and Katharina Konradi in the main roles of the iconic Strauss work. Jury member Anastassia Boutsko (Deutsche Welle) congratulated Vladimir Jurowski on behalf of Jury and asked him a few questions.

Were you pleased to receive the ICMA award?
I was very surprised, because there were not only positive reviews for this production. There was also criticism, also in the direction of the music. The Munich critics in particular didn’t seem at all enthusiastic about the way I tried to interpret Johann Strauss’ music. I sometimes have the feeling that they are floating in memories of times long past without actually knowing what it was really like. Read More →