Hae Sue Lee (Viola '21) and Gabriel Polinsky (Double Bass '22) Win Top Prizes at 72nd ARD Competition

Congratulations to Hae Sue Lee (Viola ’21) and Gabriel Polinsky (Double Bass ’22), who recently won top prizes at the 72nd ARD International Music Competition in Munich, Germany. The Curtis connection to this year’s ARD Competition extended beyond these two accomplished winners to include alumnus Andrew Grams (’03), who conducted both the viola and double bass competition finals.

Ms. Lee, who studied viola at Curtis with president and CEO Roberto Díaz, was awarded first prize in the viola category, along with the Osnabrück Music Prize, a special prize courtesy of GEWA Music (winners in the viola category received an exclusive instrument case), and the audience prize, which includes an invitation to be as a guest artist with the Osnabruck Symphony Orchestra. During the final round, she performed William Walton’s Viola Concerto with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Polinsky performed the finale of Koussevitzky’s Double Bass Concerto Op. 3 with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in the final round of the competition and won first prize in the double bass category, along with the Busch Brothers Prize. Currently the associate principal double bass for The Philadelphia Orchestra, he studied with Harold Hall Robinson and Edgar Meyer while attending Curtis.

The annual ARD International Music Competition, launched in 1952, encompasses 21 categories and classical genres, including instrumental, vocal, and chamber music, making it one of Germany’s largest classical music competitions. Learn more about the competition HERE, and see the full list of winners and their prizes HERE. 

Photo of Ms. Lee and Mr. Polinsky courtesy of artists.