Interviews

In 2024, the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra’s recording with Cyrille Dubois was awarded a prize at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). Máté Ur from ICMA jury member Papageno spoke with György Vashegyi, the artistic director of the two ensembles, about their award-winning recording and the Haydneum – Hungarian Centre for Early Music, which he founded.

As a conductor, researcher, and leader of major Hungarian cultural institutions, you have a wide range of responsibilities. Which one is closest to you?
At about the age of 15, I decided that music would be my vocation, the most important thing in my life, after my family. I founded the Purcell Choir and the Orfeo Orchestra in the early 1990s, when I was still a university student, and I also began my teaching career at the Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, and although I have conducted several symphony orchestras over the years and have been asked to conduct several times at the Hungarian State Opera, these ensembles are still of fundamental importance to me. Read More →

Guitarist Cassie Martin is the winner of the ICMA Classeek Award 2024. Charlotte Saulneron from the French Jury member ResMusica made the following interview with her.

Since 2018 Cassie Martin has traveled the world, won several awards, and participated in numerous festivals. Her repertoire combines early, contemporary and world music. As a Eurostrings artist in 2020, she took part in Gautier Capuçon’s Un été en France 2022 tour and then represented France in Sergio Assad’s The Woman and the Guitar project.

Your repertoire ranges from Bach to traditional world music: Brazilian, Austrian, Italian and French. Where do you want to go with your next project, be it on stage or on record?
I have a lot of plans. Of course, I’d like to continue introducing the public to the vast, little-known repertoire of the guitar, from the Baroque to the contemporary. One of my current concert programs is entitled La guitare à travers les siècles, in which I take the listener on a journey through time, showing all the facets of this beautiful instrument. Read More →

Renaud Capuçon is Artist of the Year 2024 of the International Classical Music Awards. One look at his touring calendar or discography is enough to understand the extraordinarily broad range of musical activity the French violinist is engaged in. Capuçon’s activities go beyond soloist and chamber music work – he is a mentor, an artistic director of festivals, a conductor and artist committed to social and civic causes. The French musician remarkably managed to find time for a short conversation with Ariadna Ene-Iliescu, a collaborator of ICMA Jury member Radio România Muzical.

You have been named Artist of the Year of the International Classical Music Awards. What does this award mean to you?
It’s a great honour for me, of course, as a musician, as a violonist. I’ve known this association and this prize for a long time and I was absolutely surprised, because I didn’t know that I would be nominated. So when I got it, I was very happy! Read More →

What in 2009 might have seemed like a utopian undertaking is now an established reality in the field of musicological research and musical production: Palazzetto Bru Zane. Stefano Pagliantini from the Italian ICMA Jury member Musica talked with Alexandre Dratwicki, scientific director of the French Romantic Music Centre Palazzetto Bru Zane whose recording label is Label of The Year at the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). Read More →

Italian Orazio Sciortino (*Syracuse, 1984) has been chosen by the jury of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) for their annual Composer Award. He is a musician with a wide-ranging catalog and an intense dedication to the interpretation of the classical repertoire as a pianist. Ismael G. Cabral from the Spanish ICMA Jury member Scherzo made the following interview.

 At what point in your career does this ICMA award come to you?
It’s not easy to have a perception of yourself, of the road you have traveled. I think I might be able to answer that question in 20 years, or maybe more. I will be 40 years old, and that is a round and relevant number at which it might make sense to take stock. Read More →

Turkish pianists Güher and Süher Pekinel have been awarded the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award of ICMA. This award is highly justified for the almost fifty years that Pekinels have graced the international stage, starting from the 1980’s when only a handful of Turkish musicians could find their way into the classical music scene. Their unique musicality, stage presence and deep artistic knowledge have paved the way to this very important award. Read More →

Romanian soprano Aida Pascu was named Young Artist of the Year 2024 of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA). The 24-year-old singer answers the questions of Irina Vasilescu, a Senior Producer of ICMA Jury member Radio Romania Muzical. Read More →

Conductor Markus Poschner is the mastermind behind a project to record the complete Bruckner symphonies with the Bruckner Orchestra Linz and the ORF Vienna Symphony Radio Orchestra. The Capriccio label is releasing all versions of the symphonies on 18 albums. This edition has won a Special Achievement Awards at this year’s ICMA. Pierre-Jean-Tribot from Jury member Crescendo made the following interview with the conductor. Read More →

French tenor Cyrille Dubois won at this year’s ICMA with his album ‘Jouissons de nos beaux ans’. Jury member Luc Boentges (Radio 100,7, Luxembourg) made the following interview with the singer.

 Cyrille Dubois, what does it mean to you to have won the ICMA prize in the ‘Baroque Vocal’ category?
It was a great surprise to receive this award. I’ve already made a number of recordings and to see this one awarded by this great international competition makes me feel very proud. Read More →