Our students won twenty nine prizes – 17 prizes in the Entrada part and 12 in the finale – at the Swiss National Youth Music Competition, the most challenging national competition for young musicians in the country.
The second semester of the 2021/2022 academic school year began with the first round – Entrada – of the Swiss National Youth Music Competition, which took place on the first week-end of the semester in several cities across the country. To prepare for it, the whole winter holidays in February both students and their teachers worked almost non-stop! And it was totally worth it: thirteen 1st prizes (including four with distinction), one 2nd prize and three 3rd prizes were won in the solo violin and cello categories, baroque music, duo category and even composition:
| Nr | Student | Prize | City, category | Instrument | Teacher |
| 1 | Kimia Corke | 1 with distinction | Geneva, 1st category | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 2 | Ilva Eigus | 1 with distinction | Winterthur, 3rd category | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 3 | Lena-Lisa Rosa | 1 with distinction | Liestal, 1st category | Violin | Inna Khriplovich |
| 4 | Ephraim Taub | 1 with distinction | Arbon, 2nd category | Cello | Payam Taghadossi |
| 5 | Alexandra Taub | 1 (violin solo) | Winterthur, 2nd category | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 6 | Sophie Branson | 1 (violin solo) | Zug, 3rd category | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 7 | Alexandra Taub | 1 (duo with Mila) | Winterthur, 2nd category | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 8 | Mila Kovari | 1 (duo with Alex) | Winterthur, 2nd category | Piano | Rafael Lipstein |
| 9 | Benjamin Branson | 1 (cello solo) | Zug, 1st category | Cello | Payam Taghadossi |
| 10 | Sophie Branson | 1 (duo with Devrim) | Zug, 3rd category | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 11 | Aurea Wang | 1 (violin solo) | Zug, 1st category | Violin | Inna Khriplovich |
| 12 | Emanuel Reinhardt | 1 (violin solo) | Arbon, 3rd category | Violin | Alexander Kuznetsov |
| 13 | Nikita Koller | 1 (composition) | Arbon, 3rd category | Violin | Ksenia Nogovitsyna |
| 14 | Tatiana Filimonova | 2 (violin solo) | Zug, 1st category | Violin | Inna Khriplovich |
| 15 | Alma Greiner | 3 (baroque violin) | Neuchatel, 2nd category | Violin | Inna Khriplovich |
| 16 | Marco Bernardis | 3 (duo with Sami) | Zug, 1st category | Violin | Inna Khriplovich |
| 17 | Sami Bernardis | 3 (duo with Marco) | Zug, 1st category | Piano | Rafael Lipstein |
Thirteen ZBSM 1st prize winners advanced to the finale of the competition, which took place in the beginning of May in Zurich. This resulted in six 1st prizes (three with distinction), four 2nd prizes and two 3rd prizes in different categories:
| Nr | Student | Prize | Category | Instrument | Teacher |
| 1 | Alexandra Taub | 1 with distinction | Violin solo | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 2 | Ilva Eigus | 1 with distinction | Violin solo | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 3 | Ephraim Taub | 1 with distinction | Cello solo | Cello | Payam Taghadossi |
| 4 | Sophie Branson | 1 | Duo category | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 5 | Alexandra Taub | 1 | Duo category | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 6 | Mila Kovari | 1 | Duo category | Piano | Rafael Lipstein |
| 7 | Sophie Branson | 2 | Violin solo | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 8 | Benjamin Branson | 2 | Cello solo | Cello | Payam Taghadossi |
| 9 | Lena-Lisa Rosa | 2 | Violin solo | Violin | Inna Khriplovich |
| 10 | Nikita Koller | 2 | Composition | Violin | Ksenia Nogovitsyna |
| 11 | Kimia Corke | 3 | Violin solo | Violin | Liana Tretiakova |
| 12 | Emanuel Reinhardt | 3 | Violin solo | Violin | Alexander Kuznetsov |
Three top winners of the first prizes with distinction – Ilva Eigus (violin) and siblings Alexandra and Ephraim Taub (violin and cello respectively) – were invited to take part in the closing Gala Concert, which was aired on the national radio and was also issued on a CD.
Photo credit: Evgenia Pronina.