06.02.2012  Czech pianist Lukáš Vondráček was announced as the winner of the 12th Unisa International Piano Competition in front of a packed ZK Matthews Great Hall at Unisa on Saturday 04 February 2012.

He impressed jury and audience alike with an impressive performance of Mozart’s Concerto no 23 in A major as well as the Variations on a Theme of Paganini (Rachmaninov) in the final round of this prestigious event, thereby winning another R24 000 on top of the First Prize of US$35 000, proudly sponsored by Vodacom.

Vondráček also won the Unisa Grand Prize of R250 000 as well as prizes for the best performance of the South African composition Dazzle by Peter Klatzow and the best recital in Round 3. His total prize money amounts to an astonishing R546 500. He will also return to South Africa for a concert tour in 2013.

The only female competitor, Korean Heejae Kim won the second prize, Stanislav Khristenko the third prize, Italian Sebastian Di Bin fourth prize, Enrique Bernaldo de Quiros from Spain the fifth prize and Christopher Janwong McKiggan from the United Kingdom sixth prize.

Megan-Geoffrey Prins was announced as the best South African competitor, winning a new Dietmann piano. He also received the special prize for the best performance of the South African composition Toccate by Graham Newcater.

Luka Okrostsvaridze from Georgia won the special prize for the best semi-finalist who did not go through to the final round. It is the first year that this prize was awarded.

Prof Mandla S Makhanya, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Unisa and Prof Kobie Kleynhans, Vice-Principal: University Estates and Finance thanked John Roos, Deputy Director of the Unisa Music Foundation for his contribution to raise the Unisa International Music Competitions to world-class standards. This was the last competition he is organising, since he will retire in June.

The main prizes of the competition are sponsored by Vodacom. “Vodacom has been a proud supporter of the Unisa international music competitions. The fact that the association has existed for more than 10 years indicates the mutual benefit and respect that has characterised the relationship. We were particularly pleased to have been able to be involved in the latest version of the competitions and we take this opportunity to wish the organisers much success in the future,” reported Mthobi Tyamzashe, Executive Director: Corporate Social Investment, Vodacom.

The next music competition organised by the Unisa Music Foundation will be the Southern African Wind Competition in 2013.