The inaugural Maeve Broderick Award for Strings took place at the Whyte Recital Hall on Friday, April 21. This award is an exciting new competition offering for RIAM string students honours one of the Academy’s most beloved and esteemed teachers, violinist Maeve Broderick.
Violinist Jason Qiu took first place with outstanding performances of Clara Schumann's Three Romances for Violin and Piano Op 21, JS Bach's Allemande, Sarabande, Double from Partita No 1 in B minor and Paganini's 24 Caprices No 1.
Andres Vaccaro came in second place, performing Ailbhe McDonagh's Tango from Dance Suite, his own composition, Elegia, JS Bach: Minuet I & II from Suite for Solo Cello No 2, BWV 1008 and Niccolò Paganini's Moses Variations.
Cellist Anna Varga finished in third place with performances of McDonagh's Valentia
Debussy's Prologue from Cello Sonata and Bach's Allemande from Suite for Solo Cello No 1 Popper: Polonaise de Concert.
There was also five individual special prizes of €100 handed out on the night
Prize for Best Spoken Introduction/Stage Presence/Audience Engagement: Dean Glynn
Prize for Most Original/Creative Programming (for example own composition/improvisation/movement/other genres etc): Dean Glynn
Prize for Best Performance of a Piece by a Female or Underrepresented Composer: Anna Varga
Prize for Best Performance of a Movement of a Solo Bach Work: Katie Mercer
Prize for Best Performance of a Virtuosic Work: Jason Qiu