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Aeolus 2025 Celebrates Excellence in Wind Performance Competitions

30 September 2025

The International Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments concluded its 2025 edition,

reaffirming its status as a global platform for emerging wind talent. This year’s focus on horn, oboe, and saxophone attracted 102 musicians from 32 countries.

The prestigious first prize and a €20,000 award were claimed by saxophonist Dimitri Pinchuk. The 20-year-old musician, who studies in Moscow under Professor Nikita Zimin, has already built an impressive resume with previous first-prize wins at the 2023 Adolphe Sax Competition and the 2024 Andorra international Saxophone Competition.

The second prize, accompanied by €15,000, was awarded to oboist Alexander Kronbichler. Hailing from South Tyrol, the 22-year-old is currently a student of Professor Ralph van Daal at Düsseldorf’s own Robert Schumann Hochschule.

Completing the top trio was hornist Jin Zhicheng from Beijing. The 19-year-old, who studies at the Central Conservatory of Music, was awarded the third prize of €10,000. In a testament to his compelling stage presence, Zhicheng was also honoured with the Audience Prize, an additional €2,000 award. His recent achievements include a first prize at the 75th Prague Spring International Music Competition in 2024.

The competition culminated on September 14th with the grand prize-winners’ concert at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf. The finalists performed with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, led by conductor Euan Shields. The programme showcased a diverse repertoire: Alexander Kronbichler performed Richard Strauss’s Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra, Dimitri Pinchuk captivated the jury with Henri Tomasi’s Saxophone Concerto, and Jin Zhicheng

presented Carl Maria von Weber’s Concertino op. 45 for Horn and Orchestra.

A special highlight was the recognition of 15-year-old Chinese oboist Guo Yu, who received a special prize for the best interpretation of contemporary music. He won over the jury with his own composition, Shan Li – The Dual Paths of Benevolence and Propriety for oboe.

Organised by the Sieghardt Rometsch Foundation and hosted annually since 2006 at the Robert Schumann Hochschule, the Aeolus Competition is one of the very few international competitions offering brass and wind instrument categories. The 2025 jury comprised esteemed professors and performers such as Szabolcs Zempléni and Ricardo Lopes.

Laureates:

First Prize: Dimitri Pinchuk, Saxophone

Second Prize: Alexander Kronbichler, Oboe

Third Prize: Jin Zhicheng, Horn

Jury:

Georg Fritzsch (Chair), Katy Woolley, Szabolcs Zempléni, Ricardo Lopes, Viola Wilmsen, Vincent David, Kayle Horch, Thomas Leander

Artists:

Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra/ Euan Shields, conductor

©WFIMC 2025

07.10.25 | World Federation of International Music Competitions

James Vaughen wins Aeolus Competition

The first prize of the 17th International Aeolus Competition, endowed with 20,000 euros, went to James Vaughen on Sunday afternoon. The 24-year-old trumpeter from the USA is studying at the Curtis Institute of Music with Prof. David Bilger. In the prizewinners’ concert at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf with the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, he was able to convince the eight-member jury under the direction of Hendrik Vestmann. Vaughen’s professional career already includes positions as assistant principal trumpeter with the Grant Mark Music Festival and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

The second prize of 15,000 euros went to Xianhua Liu. The 24-year-old tuba player from China is studying at the University of Music in Hanover with Prof. Jens Björn Larsen. He has already received numerous awards, including third place at the 57th Instrumental Competition in Markneukirchen in 2022. He was able to gain valuable experience in renowned orchestras such as the Hamburg State Opera, the Berlin Philharmonic and the NDR Radiophilharmonie. The third prize was awarded to Polina Tarasenko. The 22-year-old Ukrainian trombonist studied at the Gnesin Special Music School in Moscow and specialized in classical trombone. After completing her bachelor’s degree with Prof. Jonas Bylund, she began her master’s degree in music performance at HKB Bern University of the Arts with Prof. Ian Bousfield in 2022.

The special prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary piece went to Sophie Bright. The 18-year-old Swiss student is studying at the Bern University of the Arts with Ian Bousfield. In addition, she is the first trombone in the Bern Youth Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the swing-jazz sextet Coniglio Connection as principal trombonist. The International Aeolus Wind Competition is one of the most prestigious music competitions in the world and is advertised for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone, trumpet, horn, trombone and tuba. It has been held once a year in Düsseldorf since 2006.

The Aeolus Competition is open to young musicians of all nationalities under the age of 28. Each year, three of the instrument groups are announced for the competition: in 2023 it was trombone, trumpet and tuba. The prize money amounts to a total of 60,000 euros, the first prize is endowed with 20,000 euros. The photo shows the winners of the competition with Prof. Thomas Leander, Rector of the Robert Schumann University of Applied Sciences, who was instrumental in supporting the competition with his university.

Outstanding winners in Düsseldorf

Woodwinds Shine at an exemplary 2024 edition of the Aeolus

Seventeen-year old Flautist Fabian Johannes Egger, born 2007 in Traunstein near Munich, managed to win all three possible prizes in the final of the 2024 Aeolus Competition: the jury prize, the prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary piece, and finally the audience award.

The 17-year-old elicited an unusually wide range of nuances from the Danish composer Carl Nielsen’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra. His playing seemed free, as if it were all improvised. Such a casual manner is rare in music competitions. He shaped the opening Allegro moderato like a very agitated speech and made rhythmically striking passages appear almost percussive. In the Allegretto un poco, he found a tone as if he wanted to lure animals, and he mastered the technical hurdles of the concerto so confidently that they seemed almost irrelevant.

He composed the contemporary piece (for which he received the special prize) himself. “Life is not enough!” is the name of the composition. Whirring girlands, strong rhythmic accents and delicate moments combine to create a rousing performance.

But the other two finalists also delivered outstanding performances. The 27-year-old clarinetist Victor Díaz Guerra, a winner at the 2019 Nielsen Competition and currently Principal Clarinet at the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, won second prize with a technically brilliant performance of Carl Maria von Weber’s 2nd Clarinet Concerto. With a robust, silvery sound, he gave the solo part a very clear structure and interpreted it in a rather classically strict than romantically way. Even in the slow middle movement, the expression of feelings remained discreet.

The third prize was awarded to bassoonist Minju Kim (28), previous winner at the Prague Spring Competition and Principal Bassoon of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The late classical Concertino in B-flat major by the Finnish composer Bernhard Crusell sounds as cheerful as a morning walk. But the countless trills, runs and arpeggios make the solo a tough workout. Kim mastered the high demands with skill, but not without tension.

The finalists were once again accompanied by the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, this time conducted by Katharina Müllner, who will take up the position of Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein this season. Her clear conducting style with precise gestures provided a firm orchestral framework within which the soloists could develop freely.

Prize:
1st prize: Fabian Johannes Egger, Flute (17), Traunstein, Germany
2nd prize: Victor Díaz Guerra, Clarinet (28) Madrid
3rd prize: Minju Kim, Bassoon (28), Zurich

Jury:
Mark Rohde (Chair), Yehuda Gilad, Amy Harman, Kilian Herold, Dag Jensen, Prof. Thomas Leander, Andrea Lieberknecht, Gaby Pas-van Riet

Artists:
Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra

Aeolus 2025 Celebrates Excellence in Wind Performance Competitions

30 September 2025

The International Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments concluded its 2025 edition,

reaffirming its status as a global platform for emerging wind talent. This year’s focus on horn, oboe, and saxophone attracted 102 musicians from 32 countries.

presented Carl Maria von Weber’s Concertino op. 45 for Horn and Orchestra.

Laureates:

First Prize: Dimitri Pinchuk, Saxophone

Second Prize: Alexander Kronbichler, Oboe

Third Prize: Jin Zhicheng, Horn

Jury:

Georg Fritzsch (Chair), Katy Woolley, Szabolcs Zempléni, Ricardo Lopes, Viola Wilmsen, Vincent David, Kayle Horch, Thomas Leander

Artists:

Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra/ Euan Shields, conductor

©WFIMC 2025

07.10.25 | World Federation of International Music Competitions

Prof. Reinhold Friedrich über den Aeolus Wettbewerb

“…It has gained a great importance in the music scene, it´s quite a phenomenon. It is really THE competition for wind players. We don´t really have many others: there is Munich, there is Marktneukirchen. Some years ago, there was Geneva. But today, Aeolus is really a first address for Brass and Wind players. I would not know which competition to put on the same level.”

©WFIMC 2023/FR

>find the full interview here

A Clarinet to Fall in Love With

By Lars Wallerang

The musical standard was exceptionally high at the final of the International Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments, which, as is tradition, was held in the Tonhalle with accompaniment by the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker. The three finalists – carried by the orchestra under the direction of Vitali Alekseenok as if on a velvet cushion – played with technical perfection, flawlessly and with an almost speaking tone.

„Once again it was a secret master concert – the final of the Aeolus Competition in the well-attended Tonhalle… … The Symphoniker, under their young conductor Vitalii Alekseenok, accompanied the three finalists in two well-known solo concertos by Mozart and in a ‘Poème’ by Pierre Philippe Bauzin. The three finalists (out of some 240 registered candidates) demonstrated mature technical skill…”

by Michael-Georg Müller, NRZ, 12 September 2022

„…with the Aeolus Competition, the city of Düsseldorf has been blessed with a musical event of world rank, placing it among the international elite of the competition circuit from the very beginning. For the prize winners, the doors of the great orchestras stand open following their success in Düsseldorf – that can be taken as certain.”

das Orchester – Magazin für Musiker und Management, December 2018

17-year-old wins at Aeolus

Horn player Bora Demir prevails at the wind competition in the Tonhalle

By Lars Wallerang

In the final of the Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments, there is once again a neck-and-neck race between highly talented musicians. Over the course of two preliminary rounds, the three finalists qualified on their instruments (bassoon, horn and oboe) for a final round with orchestral accompaniment in the Tonhalle. But only one of them can carry off the victory. The winner of the First Prize is ultimately a teenager – the 17-year-old Turk Bora Demir, who studies horn at the Istanbul Conservatory and has already received several awards in his home country. It is something of a small sensation, not only because of the youthful age of the horn player, who prevailed against seasoned musicians, but also because of the striking perfection of his playing. The horn is considered one of the most technically difficult instruments of all – owing to the seemingly endless pitfalls in producing clean notes, it is also affectionately known as the „lottery wheel”. Accompanied by the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker under the direction of Hossein Pishkar, Bora Demir performed Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major with a wonderfully pure tone. This clarity of tone production is a rarity in the world of horn playing. Indeed, it already called to mind the legendary recording of the concerto by the Briton Dennis Brain from the 1950s. No wonder the jury awarded Bora Demir the First Prize, endowed with 10,000 euros. The overall standard proved to be very high. The runner-up too, the bassoonist Marceau Lefèvre (23), played impeccably. In Carl Maria von Weber’s bassoon concerto he demonstrated not only technical mastery but also a feel for the lyrical and humorous passages of this early Romantic work. Second place is endowed with 7,000 euros. The Third Prize (6,000 euros) was won by the French oboist Ilyes Boufadden-Adloff for his virtuosic playing in Richard Strauss’s late Concerto for Oboe and Small Orchestra in D major, written shortly after the end of the war in 1945. The brilliance of the garlands and his accentuated style of playing especially captivated the audience in the Tonhalle. The 23-year-old thereby also received the Audience Prize, endowed with 2,000 euros. For the best interpretation of contemporary music, the specialist jury honoured the Swiss horn player Pascal Deuber (25) with a Special Prize (5,000 euros). Deuber played a highly multifaceted horn étude by the Finn Esa-Pekka Salonen (b. 1958), known above all as a conductor.

Press on the Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments

“The Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments now ranks among the most respected music competitions in the world. For wind players across the globe, the Aeolus Competition has become what the Tchaikovsky or the Chopin is for pianists: the very top.”

Rheinische Post, 19/20 August 2017

“Brass and woodwind players at the highest level. Masterful concerts at the International Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments.”

NRZ, 18 September 2017

“The only musical event in the state capital to enjoy a worldwide reputation is the Aeolus Competition for brass and woodwind players.”

WAZ, 7 September 2017

“The International Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments has firmly established itself as a worldwide recognized stage for wind instrument players.”

Annual Book 2017, World Federation of International Music Competitions

“Sometimes the stress and disappointments in competitions also affect the judges of the competition. This was absolutely not the case at the Aeolus Competition in Düsseldorf; although not all the judges agreed with the results, which were very close, all finished the week only with deepest respect for each other.”

“Roger Bobo’s Blog” (Brass – Legend), October 25th 2016

“This competition is the most renowned in all of Europe, perhaps even the world. Comparable, one might say, to a football World Cup. And I am very proud to be allowed to take part.”

Fedor Shagov, Tuba, Moscow, Rheinische Post, 16 September 2016

“It doesn’t get any better than this! If you look at the list of previous prize winners and what became of them, the wonderful conclusion is: it doesn’t get any better. Almost everyone who has done well at the Aeolus Competition for brass and woodwind players in Düsseldorf has long since secured prominent professional positions.”

Das Orchester, December 2016

“In the Olympic village of wind players: it is a world of its own into which the audience of this consistently public competition can immerse themselves. The highest concentration is in the air. But so too is a friendly collegiality, a kind of relaxed underlying consensus. This must be how the atmosphere feels in an Olympic village.”

Fono Forum, February 2017

The foundation of a world career: “The calibre of the jury members offers participants the advantage of making contacts and being recommended further by the jurors. The wealth of experience gained from such a competition is a solid and dependable foundation for a worldwide musical career. Taking part in the Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments is to be recommended to all young musicians.”

Sonic Issue 6, Nov/Dec 2016

At the 12th International Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments, there was no First Prize this time. Instead, following the prize winners’ concert in the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the eight-member jury awarded two second places. They went to the French saxophonist Eudes Bernstein (2nd from left) and to the Russian Matvey Demin (left). The 24-year-old flautist also won the Audience Prize.

Demin has already been deputy principal flautist in the orchestra of the Tonhalle Zürich for three years and most recently studied with Prof. Andrea Lieberknecht in Munich. The second prize winner, Eudes Bernstein, is 23 years old and is still studying with Prof. Claude Delangle in Paris.

The Third Prize of the Aeolus Competition went to the clarinettist Christoph Schneider (2nd from right). The 28-year-old has been principal solo clarinettist with the Duisburg Philharmonic since last year. Schneider, who most recently studied with Prof. Ralph Manno in Cologne, also won the Special Prize for the best interpretation of contemporary music.

103 flautists, 86 clarinettists and 74 saxophonists had registered for the 12th International Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments this time. At stake were 30,000 euros in prize money and lucrative concert engagements. The contest lasted five days and comprised four rounds. In the final on Sunday, the three best musicians performed as soloists in a concert with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker under the direction of Martin Fratz.

The Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments is organised by the Sieghardt Rometsch Foundation on the premises of the Robert Schumann Hochschule. The instruments and jurors change every year. This time, the jury comprised Emily Beynon, Henrik Wiese, Harri Mäki, Thorsten Johanns, Alain Crepin, Claude Delangle and Raimund Wippermann, Rector of the Robert Schumann Hochschule. The chair was the Canadian Charles Olivieri-Munroe, General Music Director of the Philharmonie Südwestfalen.

Aeolus 2016 For the first time in the history of the International Aeolus Competition for Wind Instruments, a woman has won the First Prize. The photo shows (from left to right) Constantin Hartwig, Roeland Henkens, Louise Pollock, Prof. Raimund Wippermann, Rector of the Robert Schumann Hochschule, and Lionel Jaquerod. Photo: Susanne Diesner.

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