DEAR FRIENDS!

We are proud to announce the second edition of Classic Strings Festival and International Competition 2019 for Violin, Viola and Cello, which the European
Foundation for Support of Culture is organizing in the beautiful city of Vienna.

Austria is an important international music centre – home of famous musicians, artists, and composers.

The Festival will feature internationally renowned artists who will perform various concerts in Vienna and Salzburg, the capitals of classical music. Following up on the traits of Valletta 2018 European Capital of Culture, we are very happy to announce that in the Final Round of the competition the compulsory composition will be by the well-known contemporary Maltese composer Alexey Shor. We will be looking forward to host participants from all over the world who will participate in our international competition which will be adjudicated by a panel of international personalities.

The mission of the European Foundation for Support of Culture through the presentation of this Festival is to re-discover, promote, support and document the great masters for string instruments while providing audiences with a unique musical experience; to build the audiences of the future to help ensure the very existence of classical music.

With so many artistic achievements to its credit, the European Foundation for Support of Culture looks forward towards the continued success of its classical music projects in the future.

I welcome all participants to Classic Strings Festival and International Competition 2019 in Vienna and I wish everyone good luck and success.

With best regards and respect,
Mr. Konstantin Ishkhanov
President
European Foundation for Support of Culture

We all want to make our contribution to the globalized world and we cannot act independently from international developments because the consequences of others' actions, whether people, corporations or states, also have a direct impact on our local living environment. Music traditions of different European metropolitans have always evoked the need for a congress-like discussion on the deep analyzing and further development of methodology and playing technique.

The “Vienna Classic Strings” International Violin, Viola, Cello Competition and Festival, which will take place for the first time in Vienna in May 2019, forms the platform for this necessary artistic discussion. Therefore, as mayor of Vienna, the city of music and culture, I am especially pleased to be able to welcome a great number of international participants who compete at the highest musical level in the disciplines that made our city so great. In this sense, I wish all participants of "Vienna Classic Strings" not only exciting competitions and concerts but also a lot of success and the possibility of a cultural exchange on artistic as well as a human level!

Mayor of Vienna,
Dr.Michael Ludwig