The International Classical Music organized their annual Award Ceremony and Gala at the Concert Hall of Bamberger Symphoniker in Bamberg. The Award Ceremony was hosted by ICMA President Remy Franck and Secretary General Nicola Cattò. The trophies were presented by the ICMA Jury members.
The group photo with the winners and the Jury members © Marian Lenhard
Jakub Hrůša, Artist of the Year, together with ICMA President Remy Franck © Marian Lenhard
Anja Mittermüller, mezzo soprano, Young Artist of the Year with ICMA General Secretary Nicola Cattò © Marian Lenhard
The Discovery Award went to violinist Mariam Abouzahra, pictured here with Beat Fehlmann, Managing Director of the Musikakademie Liechtenstein (r.) and Jury member Drazen Domjanic, KULMAG, Liechtenstein © Marian Lenhard
American pianist Anthony Ratinov, winner of the ICMA CLASSEEK Award with Classeek representatives Benjamin Woodroff and Benjamin Risse as well as ICMA President Remy Franck © Marian Lenhard
Péter Zombola, Composer Award (l.), with David Zsoldos member of the ICMA Board and CEO of Papageno © Marian Lenhard
LSO Live was honored as Label of the Year. The trophy was presented by Sanda Vojkovic, Unison Croatia (r.) to Katy Rogers-Davies & David Milinger © Marian Lenhard
Le Palais des Dégustateurs won a Special Achievement Award for their Carlos Païta series. The picture shows Alexander Païta, the son of the conductor and label manager Eric Rouyer from Le Palais des Dégustateurs together with Remy Franck and ICMA Board member Frauke Adrians © Marian Lenhard
Special Achievement Award for Bamberger Symphoniker. Marcus Rudolf Axt, General Manager, Music Director Jakub Hrusa and Orchestra Board Member Markus Mayers © Marian Lenhard
Amarcord, winner in Early Music, on the photo together with Martin Hoffmeister ICMA Board member (Gewandhausradio Leipzig) © Marian Lenhard
In Baroque Instrumental, the winner was: Bach Sonatas with Isabelle Faust, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Kristin von der Goltz, represented by Jean-Marc Berns from Harmonia Mundi © Marian Lenhard
Soprano Ermonela Jaho and Henry Little from Opera Rara for an album with Donizetti Songs
© Marian Lenhard
BR Klassik won an award for Haydn’s Die Schöpfung conducted by Simon Rattle. On the picture we see Barbara Widenmayr and Suzanne Vongries, from the BR Choir resp. the label BR Klassik with Jury member Luc Boentges (Opus Radio) © Marian Lenhard
Michael Gmasz, Radio Klassik Stephansdom, (r.) presented the award in Chamber Music for Martinů String Quartets with the Pavel Haas Quartet to Supraphon representatives, managing director Martin Kudla and chief executive producer Matouš Vlčinský © Marian Lenhard
Naxos’s Salvatore Pichireddu took the trophy for Mahler’s Symphony No.5 by Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich and Paavo Järvi on Alpha Classics © Marian Lenhard © Petra Schulten
Pianist Roberto Prosseda and conductor Nir Kabaretti won in Concertos for the album War Silence – Rare Italian Piano Concertos by Fano, Dallapiccola, Omizzolo, Carrara © Marian Lenhard
In the category Contemporary Music Finnish composer Kalevi Aho won with a BIS recording of his Moonlight Concerto and Concerto For Alto Flute & Strings. The photo shows jury members Jean-Marc Petit (ResMusica) and Harri Kuusisaari (Rondo Classic), viola player Hiyoli Togawa, Kalevi Aho, flutist Sharon Bezaly, Feizy Ercin (Andante) and President Remy Franck © Marian Lenhard
Berliner Philharmoniker Recordings won with a Schönberg box in the category Assorted programs. The label was represented by Christoph Franke and Zoe Howard © Marian Lenhard
Brilliant Classics won in Historical Recordings with their box Sergio Fiorentino – The Legacy. The picture shows Jeroen Vreugdenhil, Managing Director Brilliant Classics, sound engineer Jochen Geene and Sabine Wiedemann for Connect Services © Marian Lenhard
In Premiere Recordings the winning album Shostakovich Discoveries: World Premiere Recordings & Rarities was also announced as Recording of the Year. One of the performers, pianist Andrei Korobeinikov received the trophy from Jury member Cristina Comandasu (Radio Romania Muzical) © Marian Lenhard
In Video Opera, Benedikt Don Strohmeier received the award on behalf of Bayerische Staatsoper Recordings for the video with Sergei Prokofiev’s War and Peace conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. He received the trophy from Jury member Cristina Comandasu (Radio Romania Muzical) © Marian Lenhard
One winner in Video Performance and Documentaries was the Accentus Music production with Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 9 played by Bamberger Symphoniker under Herbert Blomstedt. The picture shows Paul Smacny, CEO Accentus Music, Marcus Rudolf Axt, General manager of Bamberger Symphoniker as well as Nina Junke, a member of the Orchestra Board © Marian Lenhard
Another winner in Video Performance and Documentaries was the film The Alchemy of the Piano by Jan Schmidt-Garre on Naxos. The trophy was presented by Anastassia Boutsko, from Jury member Deutsche Welle to Iwen Schmees, CEO of Naxos Germany and Salvatore, Naxos German. © Marian Lenhard
At the end of the ceremony the Transylvania State Orchestra invited the audience to Cluj, where the next ICMA Gala will take place on 9 April 2027. The picture shows Marcus Rudolf Axt (Bamberger Symphoniker), as well as General Director Silvia Scarciu, Marketing Director Loredana Valean from the Transylvania State Orchestra and ICMA President Remy Franck © Marian Lenhard
