Jennifer Stumm (Viola ’01) Receives 2024 Pablo Casals Award

Congratulations to Curtis alumna Jennifer Stumm (Viola ’01), recipient of the 2024 Pablo Casals Award—For a Better World. The Kronberg Academy recognized the acclaimed violist and director in a ceremony on September 26 at the Casals Forum of this year’s Kronberg Festival for her work with Ilumina, a São-Paulo-based artist development initiative and chamber music collective she founded in 2015. The €10,000 prize honors artists for their exceptional musical achievements and a strong commitment to social justice. Since its inception, Ms. Stumm’s inspiring organization has continued to bring together leading international soloists with the best rising talent from Latin America and has rapidly become a modern model for creativity in the 21st-century classical music world with its artist-led advancement of diverse talent.

“Jennifer’s curatorial flair makes Ilumina concerts a dynamic experience characterised by cultural exchange and fresh energy,” said Marcus Stollenwerk, member of the executive board at asset management company Flossbach von Storch, which supports the award. “The award shows how music not only impresses through its technical brilliance, but also through its contribution to community life.”

Known for the “opal-like beauty” (Washington Post) of her sound, Ms. Stumm continues to perform on the world’s greatest stages, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Sala São Paulo, and the Wigmore Hall, London. She has won the Primrose International Viola Competition, Geneva International Music Competition,  Concert Artists Guild International Competition (the first violist ever to win First Prize), and recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and BBC New Generation Artist awards for her work in chamber music. Her viral TEDx talk about the viola and the blessings of being different, “The Imperfect Instrument,” was named an editor’s pick of all TED talks and led to a solo debut at the Berlin Philharmonie. Ms. Stumm, who has released two celebrated solo albums, serves as professor of viola at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna and plays a Gasparo da Salò viola from 1589, generously on loan from a private trust.

Read the news of Ms. Stumm’s award in The Strad. 

Visit Jennifer Stumm’s official website and learn more about Ilumina HERE.

Photo Credits: 1.) Jennifer Stumm (Angela Murray). 2.) Ms. Stumm at the Kronberg Festival (Andreas Malkmus). 3.) Portrait of Ms. Stumm courtesy of artist’s official Instagram account. 4.) Jennifer Stumm and Ilumina at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall (Edinburgh Reporter, Jess Shurte).