After the first round confronting 25 young musicians from 16 countries, eight semi-finalists competed on Friday evening, 27 November 2009, in two chamber music concerts broadcast live from the Concert Hall of the Bratislava Academy of Music, in hope for a place in the finals.

The three candidates who made it were:

• Oleg Moroz, clarinet, Ukraine 
• Ilya Silchukov, baritone, Belarus 
• Veit Hertenstein, viola, Switzerland    

From left to right: Oleg, Ilya and Veit    

The finals took place on Monday night, 30 November 2009 at the Grand Concert Hall of Slovak Radio in Bratislava. The finalists were accompanied by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Charles Olivieri-Munroe, and the concert was broadcast live throughout Europe as part of the 2009-2010 Euroradio Concert Season and its Competitions series.

Following the final concert, the international jury made up of: 

• Igor Javorsky - Chairman (SR) 
• Alfred Solder (ORF) 
• Markéta Vejvodová (CR) 
• François Croze (SRF) 
• Marco Mauceri (RAI) 
• Alina Velea (ROR) and
• Evert van Berkel (SR)    

named Veit Hertenstein, viola, from Switzerland, "2009 New Talent".

Veit Hertenstein      

Congratulations to this young and promising musician and best wishes for a brilliant career!

From left to right: Oleg, Ilya and Veit, Chairman of the Slovak National Gas Company (sponsor) 
and Pierre-Yves Tribolet   

Photos courtesy of Peter Brenkus