PRESS RELEASE
On behalf of the Trustees of the Pierre Fournier Award YCAT is delighted to announce that on Friday 10 July 2015 at the Final Auditions held at Wigmore Hall, though no main award was given, the jury unanimously gave two incentive grants of £1,000 to cellists Jonathan Dormand and Valentino Worlitzsch. The Pierre Fournier award takes place bi-annually and has been open to applicants worldwide since 2009. Following a rigorous selection process, four fine young cellists were selected to take part in the Final Auditions: Jonathan Dormand (British), Valentino Worlitzsch (German), Christine Lee (Korean) and Laura van der Heijden (British). Each performed a 45 minute programme in front of a distinguished jury including Ralph Kirshbaum (Honorary Chair), Guy Johnston, György Pauk, Melissa Phelps, Louise Hopkins, Tim Walden and Moray Welsh.
The Pierre Fournier Award was founded in 1988 by renowned cellist Ralph Kirshbaum to honour one of the world’s greatest cellists, Pierre Fournier. The Award aims to assist exceptional talent through performance opportunities, professional recordings or incentive grants, to help develop and further the solo careers of outstanding young cellists.
Jonathan Dormand is currently studying with Ralph Kirshbaum at the University of South California Thornton School of Music, having previously studied with Laurence Lessler and Hannah Roberts at the RNCM. In 2012 he won a major prize in the ISANGYUN International Cello competition. He is grateful for support from the Hattori Foundation, Musicians Benevolent Fund, and Countess of Munster Musical Trust.
Valentino Worlitzsch is studying with Wolfgang Schmidt at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar, having previously studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg under Bernhard Gmelin. In 2014 he was awarded 1 st prize and two special awards at the International Music Competition Pacem in Terris, Bayreuth, and won a special award at the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann, Berlin.
Jonathan Dormand presented a programme of works by Schnittke, Schumann, Shchedrin and Barber with pianist Marisa Gupta , and Valentino Worlitzsch a programme of works by Britten, Schumann and Beethoven with pianist Naoko Sonoda.
Past recipients of the Award include Rebecca Gilliver, Richard Harwood, Gregor Horsch, Hannah Roberts and Gemma Rosefield, and major incentive grants have been awarded to cellists including Thomas Carroll and Jamie Walton. For more information, please contact Katherine Stevenson, Administrator, Pierre Fournier Award: [email protected]
JONATHAN DORMAND cello
British cellist Jonathan Dormand has performed throughout Europe, Asia and North America. In 2012 he was a top prize-winner at the ISANGYUN International Cello Competition.
An avid chamber musician he has performed at Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Southbank Centre. Festival appearances include the IMS Prussia Cove, the Verbier Festival, the Chicago Symphony’s Ravinia Festival, Yellow Barn and the Manchester International Festival.
He has collaborated with acclaimed musicians including pianists Susan Tomes, John O’Conor, violinists Midori, Phillipe Graffin, cellist Ralph Kirshbaum and soprano Lucy Shelton.
Jonathan studied with Hannah Roberts at the Royal Northern College of Music and with Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory. Further studies have been with Ralph Kirshbaum at the University of Southern California. He is grateful for support from the Hattori Foundation, Musicians Benevolent Fund, the Philharmonia Orchestra/Martin Musical Scholarship Fund and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust. The latter selected him as an artist for their Recital Scheme from 2012 – 2014.
VALENTINO WORLITZSCH cello
Born in 1989 in Hanover, in 2015 Valentino Worlitzsch won the €10,000 first prize at the Pacem in Terris Competition in Bayreuth, and received a special prize at the Emanuel Feuermann International Cello Competition. He was also a semi-finalist at the 2015 International Tchaikovsky Competition in St Petersburg.
Valentino studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg under Prof. Bernhard Gmelin and in Paris under Prof. Michel Strauss. Since 2013 he has continued his master studies under Prof. Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt with the additional subject of conducting with Prof. Nicolás Pasquet at the University of Music Franz Liszt Weimar.
Prizes and awards include first and second prizes at the national Jugend Musiziert competition, the Eduard-Söring Prize by the Deutsche Stiftung and first prize at the Elise-Meyer-Stiftung for violoncello. In 2013 he was presented with the Dvořák Prize at the Leoš Janáček International Competition in Brno.
Valentino is grateful for support from the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation, the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, the Masefield scholarship of the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung, and is a beneficiary of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation “Live Music Now”.
As a soloist, Valentino Worlitzsch has performed many of the key concertos with leading orchestras, including the Munich Chamber Orchestra and Nürnberger Symphoniker. Since February 2015, after being an award winner at the Deutscher Musikinstrumentenfonds Music Competition of the German Music Foundation, Valentino plays on a cello with the label “Grancino” (Roman school, 18th century), generously lent to the trust by a private owner.