Valuable instruments for three Hamburg students

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A total of 23 powerful-sounding violins, violas and cellos were awarded to outstanding young musicians by the German Foundation for Musical Life. Three students from Hamburg also took part in the competition, which was held at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe from February 23 to 25, and impressed the jury.

Christa-Maria Stangorra, a student in Prof. Tanja Becker-Bender's violin class, won a valuable violin by Johannes Franziskus Pressenda, Turin 1823, owned by the Federal Republic of Germany.
Anny Chen, also a violin student of Prof. Tanja Becker-Bender, won a violin by Petrus Guarnerius, Venice 1730, owned by the Federal Republic of Germany.
And Anna Olivia Amaya Farias, a young student at the 'Andreas Franke Academy' of the HfMT Hamburg under Prof. Bernhard Gmelin, won a newly built cello by Stephan von Bähr, Paris 2006, which had just been donated to the fund by a Hamburg trustor.

Biographies:
The German-Latvian violinist Christa-Maria Stangorra (*1995) received her first lessons at the age of four, was later a student at the Purcell School/ London and has been studying with Prof. Tanja Becker-Bender at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama since 2013. In 2016/17, she completed a year abroad at the Haute École de Musique in Sion (CH) and at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole in Florence, both in the class of Prof. Pavel Vernikov.
She has attended master classes with Daniel Barenboim (WEDO chamber music project), Latica Honda-Rosenberg, Igor Ozim and Stephan Picard, among others. Her awards include 1st Federal Prize at Jugend Musiziert 2013 (violin solo) with WESPE Special Prize, 1st Prize at the Elise Meyer Competition in Hamburg, the "GWK Music Prize 2014" in Münster, 3rd Prize at the International Queen Sophie Charlotte Competition in Mirow and the Youth Promotion Prize at the International Violin Competition "Leopold Mozart" in Augsburg. In 2016, she was accepted into the "Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz" foundation and as a member of the "LGT Young Soloists", whose concert tours have taken her to venues in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tel Aviv, among others. Highlights of the past season include solo appearances at the Tonhalle Zurich and the Rheingau Music Festival. A CD with Scandinavian works will be released by Sony/ RCA Red Seal in spring 2018.
The "Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes" scholarship holder has performed several times at London's Wigmore Hall, the Ateneo Madrid and at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival (including as a soloist with the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock and the Polish Chamber Philharmonic Sopot). Invitations to chamber music festivals have taken her to Switzerland, Greece and China. In summer 2016, she was a guest at the Thy Chamber Music Festival in Denmark, where she performed together with the renowned violist Máté Szücs (principal violist of the Berliner Philharmoniker). As Irino Prize winner, she gave several concerts in Tokyo, Japan in 2014. Her debut with the Asian Chamber Orchestra in Hong Kong followed a year later.
At the 26th competition of the German Musical Instrument Fund, she won a violin by Giovanni Francesco Pressenda from 1823 from the Federal Republic of Germany.

Anny Chen is a Taiwanese/Canadian violinist who is currently studying with Prof. Tanja Becker-Bender at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama. She has already been successful in several international competitions, e.g. she won the first prize and the prize for the best interpretation of a violin concerto at the International Competition 'Violin of the North', Russia 2009, and won sponsorship prizes as a finalist of the International Competition Kloster Schöntal, Germany 2011. She was also a finalist in the International Postacchini Competition in Fermo, 2010, and in the International Sarasate Competition in Spain, 2015. In 2015 she was awarded 1st prize in the "D'Addario String Competition" in England, in 2016 she won the ISA Soloist Prize in Austria and 3rd prize in the prestigious Sylvia She-Te Lee Violin Competition in Taiwan. Also in 2016, she won first prize at the Elise Meyer Competition in Hamburg.
As a soloist, Anny has performed in many famous concert halls such as the Laeiszhalle Chamber Music Hall (Hamburg), Wigmore Hall London, LSO St. Luke's London, St Martin in the Fields (London), in Leeds as part of the International Concert Series, and at the ORF Radiokulturhaus in Vienna. Recently she has had the opportunity to perform as a soloist with St. Peter's College Orchestra (Oxford), the Cambridge Graduates' Orchestra and the Finchley Chamber Orchestra. She performed Kurt Weill's Violin Concerto with the Hamburg University of Music and Drama Orchestra in October 2017.
Anny was a student in the class of Prof. Dr. Felix Andrievsky at the Royal College of Music in London from 2012 to 2015. She was supported by the ABRSM scholarship during this time, and in 2015 she received her Diploma of Higher Education. From 2003 to 2012 she attended the Purcell School for Young Musicians, London, where she was in the class of Evgeny Grach.Anny is also an alumna of the Perlman Music Program, where she took regular lessons with the renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman between 2010-2014.
Anny has been supported by the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation since 2016. In the 2017/18 season, she will play as an academy member of the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra. As the winner of the 2018 German Instrument Fund competition, the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben is providing her with a violin by Petrus Guarnerius Filius Joseph Cremonensis Venedig 1730.

Anna Olivia Amaya Farias (*14.12.1998 in Hamburg) has been taught by Prof. Bernhard Gmelin since the age of nine. In 2012, she passed the entrance exam at the Andreas Franke Academy of the University of Music and Drama in Hamburg and was a junior student there until she began her Bachelor's degree in the winter semester of 16/17. Anna Olivia Amaya Farias was awarded a first prize in the 'Violoncello solo' category at the 'Jugend musiziert' competition in 2013 and 2017, she also received a first prize in the 'Piano chamber music' category in 2013 and was awarded special prizes by the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, the Schleswig Holstein Music Festival and the NDR Elbphilharmonieorchester, among others. She has also received special prizes at the international Dotzauer Competition and the international Knopf Competition.
'By participating in international master classes with David Geringas, Wolfgang Boettcher and Jens-Peter Maintz, she was able to gain important inspiration for her musical development. She has been supported by scholarships from the Förderverein Jugend musiziert and the Jürgen Ponto Foundation and is currently a scholarship holder of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation. Anna Olivia is also a scholarship holder and participant in the TONALi18 competition.
From 2013 to 2018, the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben provided Anna Olivia Amaya Farias with a violoncello by Heinrich Sielaff, Elbing 1926, on loan, a fiduciary contribution to the German Musical Instrument Fund from a Hamburg family estate. As the winner of the 2018 German Instrument Fund competition, the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben is providing her with a cello by Stephan von Baehr, Paris 2006.

The German Musical Instrument Fund is a project of the German Foundation for Musical Life founded on a joint initiative with the Federal Republic of Germany. The fund was established in 1993 to support highly talented young string players. The initial collection of 16 instruments, mainly from the Federal Republic of Germany, has now grown to a collection of over 200 powerful-sounding violins, violas, cellos and double basses, more than half of which are trust gifts - mostly from family ownership. The fund includes historical masterpieces by Stradivari, Guarneri, Guadagnini and Gagliano, as well as modern instruments from European master workshops that were commissioned for the foundation. The musicians initially receive the instruments on loan for one year, but can extend this period with further successful auditions until they reach the age of 30 or apply for an even better instrument.

The Sezscher Foundation for Musical Life has been dedicated to the nationwide promotion of young musical talent since 1962. Under the patronage of the Federal President, the foundation currently supports around 300 scholarship holders between the ages of 12 and 30 on an individual and long-term basis. In addition to the German Musical Instrument Fund as a unique instrument for promoting highly talented young musicians, the foundation offers its "Rising Stars" a wide range of performance opportunities in the "Foyer of Young Artists" concert series. The foundation also maintains close links with important music festivals, to which it sends advanced scholarship holders. The sponsorship concept is rounded off by special prizes and scholarships, ranging from awards at competitions to the Carl-Heinz Illies Scholarship for young pianists and the Gerd Bucerius Scholarship for studying at one of the world's major music academies. Particularly committed sponsors provide selected scholarship holders with financial support for their musical careers through sponsorships. The charitable foundation has been managed on a voluntary basis by Irene Schulte-Hillen since 1992 and funds its extensive support program under the motto "KÖNNER BRAUCHEN GÖNNER" almost exclusively through donations from its friends and sponsors, who are involved through voluntary work, donations and endowments, artist sponsorships or instrument grants.