Internationale Improvisatie Wedstrijd René Arons 2019

Photos ©Lieven de Laet

The International Improvisation Competition René Arons was held on the 2nd of February 2019 in the White hall of the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp (AP Hogeschool). There were fifteen candidates from different European countries and from the USA:

Solo

Nate Sassoon (piano)
USA

Nate Sassoon

Eemeli Solehmainen (piano)
Suomi/Finland

Eemeli Solehmainen

Joe Nowell (piano)
Italy

Joe Nowell

Juan Fran Cabrera (violin)
Spain

Juan Fran Cabrera

Itai Kahn (drums)
Israel

Itai Kahn

Julian Vleminckx (drums)
Belgium

Julian Vleminckx

Sylvain Monchocé (flute)
France

Sylvain Monchocé

Duo

DOUBLE C
Charlotte and Camille Beniest (piano)
Belgium

Double C

DUO DE SMET & LEFEBRE
Matthias De Smet (piano), Lorenzo Lefebre (piano)
Belgium

Duo De Smet en Lefebre

DUO DEWILDE & VAN DEN BOSSCHE
Matthias Dewilde (piano, electronics), Werend Van Den Bossche (sax, electronics)
Belgium

Duo Dewilde Van den Bossche

Ensemble

ENSEMBLE JOINT MODULE
Yunah Proost (cello), Benoît Segui (guitar), Frederik Karcher (guitar), Bram Rooses (piano), Melanie Gruwez (violin), Laszlo Csaky Ibañez (trumpet), Santiago Lurueña Blazquez (clarinet)
Belgium

Ensemble Joint Module

ENSEMBLE NO VIOLA
Iola Cornelis (violin), Flo Driesen (double bass), Renaat Appermont (cello), Margot Haudenhuyse (violin), Vera Werkman (violin)
Belgium

Ensemble no viola

FADE IN TRIO
Pietro Barcellona (double bass), Federico Calcagno (clarinet), Marco Luparia (drums)
Italy

Fade in Trio

LES HEURES PERDUES
François Vallet (percussion), Louis Siracusa (double bass), Antonin Le Faure (alto), Simona Castria (saxophone), Brendan Champeaux (clarinet), Juliette Adam (bass clarinet), Félix Bacik (trombone), Benoît Segui (guitar), Esteban Appesseche (dancer), Lola Monin (dancer), Yoann Jolly (dancer)
France

Les Heures Perdues

THIRD FLOOR CORRIDOR
Mathy Hoessels (marimba), Lander Rutten vibraphone), Glenn Engelen (drums) [Belgium]

Third Floor Corridor

The international jury:

Christoph BAUMANN, Lucerne (Switserland)
Paul DINNEWETH, Antwerp
Frank LIEBSCHER, Leipzig (Germany)
Bert MOOIMAN, The Hague (The Netherlands)
Anne-Liis POLL, Tallinn (Estonia)
Yves SENDEN, Antwerp (chair)

And the winners are:

Les Heures Perdues (France): winner of the Wildcard Award, donated by the Arons family; value: 500 euros; they are also the winner of the 'Arum' exchange trophy;

Prijsuitreiking Les Heures Perdues

Fade in Trio (Italy): winner of the Best Tonal Improvisation Award, donated by the City of Antwerp; value: 300 euros;

Prijsuitreiking Fade in Trio

Juan Fran Cabrera (Spain): winner of the Best Free Improvisation Award, donated by Pro Arte Classical Stringed Instruments; value 300 euros;

Prijsuitreiking Juan Fran Cabrera

Sylvain Monchocé (France): winner of the Best Solo Improvisation Award, donated by the Vrienden Conservatorium Antwerpen; value 300 euros;

Prijsuitreiking Sylvain Monchocé

Itai Kahn (Israel): winner of the Best Percussion Award, donated by Roga Percussion; value 300 euros;

Prijsuitreiking Itai Kahn

Eemeli Solehmainen (Finland): winner of the Best Improvisation on the Imposed Theme Award; value 300 euros;

Prijsuitreiking Eemeli Solehmainen

Third Floor Corridor (Belgium) and Nata Sassoon (USA): shared the Audience Award, donated by Pro Arte Classical Stringed Instruments; value 300 euros;

Prijsuitreiking Third Floor Corridor

Ensemble Joint Module (Belgium): Encouragement Award, donated by the City of Antwerp; value 200 euros;

Prijsuitreiking Joint Module

Ensemble No Viola (Belgium): Encouragement Award, donated by Crescendo; value 100 euros.

Prijsuitreiking Ensemble No Vialo

Finally, we can mention that three ensembles, consisting of students from the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp, received an award: the shared audience award for Third Floor Corridor, and two incentive prizes for Ensemble No Viola and Ensemble Joint Module.