Over 100 young musicians presented themselves to the jury at the 60th "Jugend musiziert" regional competition. Among them were pupils Anna Lichtblau (14) and Lilly Marie Diehl (12), both on the violin, as well as Justus Buttke (17) and six-year-old Zi Han Jayden Sun in the "piano solo" category.
As this year's competition was not about individual performance on the string instruments, but about playing instruments together, Anna and Lilly have been meeting at least once a week since September in addition to their lessons in order to grow together as a duo.
Both students also had lessons as a duo with their joint teacher Anna Godesberg. "It's not easy to concentrate on one partner while playing the difficult competition literature. Entries and tempo changes have to be played in sync, which requires a lot of practice and diligence," explained Anna Godesberg.
Everything went smoothly at the competition. Both girls were beaming as they received their certificates. The young musicians were awarded 22 points, earning them first prize.
Justus Buttke (17) from Donny Lobisch-Ehlert's piano class also had every reason to be happy. He was 100 percent convincing with his demanding program, which - according to the jury - he mastered both at a high artistic level and with technical perfection, confidently and without mistakes. His playing was rewarded with a first prize and the highest score of 25 points.
Justus has thus qualified for the state competition, which requires a minimum score of 23 points. In mid-March, he will present his 20-minute program of works by Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven in Hanover.
Equally impressive is the second prize of 20 points for the 6-year-old Zi Han Jayden Sun. With just nine months of lessons under his belt, he was already up to the demands of the youngest age group. His program lasted eight minutes and included short pieces by great composers such as Beethoven, Leopold Mozart and Johann Nepomuk Hummel.
At the prizewinners' concert in Braunschweig, however, Jayden played his favorite piece "Auf dem Jahrmarkt", which was written for him by his piano teacher Donny Lobisch-Ehlert.
The team at the Salzgitter Music School and the teachers congratulate the girls and boys on their achievements and wish Justus every success in the state competition and lots of fun with music in the future.