Walter W. Naumburg Foundation

The Walter W. Naumburg Foundation sponsors competitions and provides awards for young classical musicians in North America. Founded in 1925, it operates the prestigious Naumburg Competition.

Foundation and concerts
It was founded in 1925 by Walter Wehle Naumburg, a wealthy amateur cellist and son of noted New York City music patron and philanthropist Elkan Naumburg. Elkan Naumburg, owner of the eminent Wall Street bank E. Naumburg & Co., founded the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts in 1905. The concerts were originally performed at the bandstand on the concert ground of New York's Central Park, and starting in 1923 were performed in the Naumburg Bandshell at the same location.

Naumburg Competition
The Naumburg Competition is one of the oldest and most prestigious music competitions in the world. The website San Francisco Classical Voice writes that "the Naumburg Competition has one of the best track records of selecting young musicians who, in short order, build significant careers". The first competition was held in 1926. In an open audition format, pianists, violinists, and cellists were all eligible to compete. In 1928 it was expanded to include vocalists. The prize included cash awards and the opportunity to play concerts in New York's Town Hall, which virtually insured reviews by New York's most influential music critics. In 1946, Aaron Copland and William Schuman joined the Naumburg Foundation board of directors, and shortly afterwards the Foundation began awarding composers with recording projects. In 1961, the format of the competition was changed into a professional competition with a single winner, for one particular discipline. In 1965, the competition was expanded to include chamber music ensembles.

Since the early 1970s, the Naumburg Competition has generally rotated three different categories – piano, strings, and voice – on a triennial basis (although there have also been competitions for flute, clarinet, and classical guitar). Winners receive a cash prize and two recital appearances in Alice Tully Hall. Other opportunities include a recording project, a commission (to be premiered in one of the Alice Tully Hall recitals) and many performance opportunities throughout the United States.

Previous winners of the International Naumburg Competition include Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, Elmar Oliveira, Dawn Upshaw, Robert Mann, Adele Marcus, Jorge Bolet, Kun-Woo Paik, Leonidas Kavakos, Abbey Simon, William Kapell, Stephen Hough, and Harvey Shapiro. Winners of the Chamber Music Award include the American, Brentano, Miro, and Muir string quartets, and the Eroica Trio.

Winners

 * 1960
 * Joseph Silverstein, violinist


 * 1961
 * Werner Torkanowsky, conductor


 * 1964
 * Elizabeth Mosher, soprano


 * 1968
 * Jorge Mester, conductor


 * 1972
 * Robert Davidovici, violinist

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 * 1992 Piano
 * Awadagin Pratt, first prize
 * Mikhail Yanovitsky, second prize
 * Alan Gampel, third prize

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 * 1993 Violin
 * Tomohiro Okumura, first prize
 * Yehonatan Berick, second prize
 * Michael Shih, third prize

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 * 1994 Voice
 * Theresa Santiago, soprano, first prize
 * Leon Williams, baritone, second prize
 * Christópheren Nomura, baritone, third prize

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 * 1996 Classical guitar
 * Jorge Caballero, first prize
 * Jason Vieaux, second prize
 * Kevin Gallagher, third prize}}

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 * 1997 Piano
 * Steven Osborne, first prize
 * Anthony Molinaro, first prize (co-winners)}}

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 * 1998 Violin
 * Axel Strauss, first prize
 * Jasmine Lin, second prize
 * Jennifer Frautschi, third prize}}

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 * 1999 Voice
 * Stephen Salters, baritone, first prize
 * Randall Scarlata, baritone, second prize
 * Hyunah Yu, soprano, third prize}}

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 * 2001 Violoncello
 * Clancy Newman, first prize
 * Li Wei Qin, first prize (co-winners)}}

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 * 2002 Piano
 * Gilles Vonsattel, first prize
 * Konstantin Soukhovetski, second prize
 * Lev Vincour, third prize}}

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 * 2003 Violin
 * Frank Huang, first prize
 * Ayano Ninomiya, second prize
 * Sharon Roffman, third prize}}

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 * 2005 Voice
 * Sari Gruber, first prize
 * Thomas Meglioranza, second prize
 * Tyler Duncan, third prize
 * Amanda Forsythe, honorable mention}}

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 * 2006 Viola
 * David Carpenter, first prize
 * Eric Nowlin, second prize
 * Jonah Sirota, third prize
 * David Kim, honorable mention}}

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 * 2008 Cello
 * David Requiro and Anita Leuzinger, first prize
 * Sébastien Hurtaud, third prize
 * Saeunn Thorsteindottir, Zara Nelsova Prize
 * Umberto Clerici, honorable mention
 * David Eggert, Honorable mention}}

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 * 2010 Piano
 * Soyeon Lee, first prize
 * Alexandre Moutouzkine, co-second prize
 * Ran Dank, co-second prize
 * Christopher Guzman, honorable mention}}

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 * 2012 Violin
 * Tessa Lark, first prize
 * Elly Suh, second prize
 * Kristin Lee, third prize}}

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 * 2014 Voice
 * Julia Bullock, first prize
 * Sidney Outlaw, second prize
 * Hyo Na Kim, honorable mention
 * Michael Kelly, Honorable mention}}

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 * 2015 Cello
 * Lev Sivkov, first prize
 * Jay Campbell and Brannon Cho, second prize}}

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 * 2017 Piano
 * Albert Cano Smit and Xiaohui Yang, first prize
 * Tiffany Poon, second prize}}

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 * 2018 Violin
 * Grace Park, first prize
 * Shannon Lee, second prize
 * Danbi Um, third prize}}

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 * 2021 Voice
 * Erin Wagner, mezzo-soprano, first prize
 * Megan Moore, mezzo-soprano, and William Socolof, bass-baritone, second prize}}

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 * 2022 Saxophone
 * Valentin Kovalev and Andreas Mader, first prize
 * Robert (Chance) Stine, second prize

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