Cellist Julia Hagen wins the 2024 Credit Suisse Young Artist

Julia Hagen has been named winner of the 2024 Credit Suisse Young Artist Award. Following the final round today at the Vienna Musikverein, the jury, which is chaired by Lucerne Festival’s Executive and Artistic Director Michael Haefliger, announced that they have chosen the Austrian musician to receive this prestigious international distinction. This is the 12th edition of the award, which includes a cash prize of CHF 75,000 as well as an opportunity to appear as the soloist in a concert with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during the Summer Festival in Lucerne. The concert will be given next year on 7 September under the direction of Christian Thielemann in the KKL Lucerne Concert Hall. For many young soloists, winning the award provided an important entree to a major international career. Particularly notable examples include Patricia Kopatchinskaja in 2002, Sol Gabetta in 2004, and Vilde Frang in 2012.

Julia Hagen was born in Salzburg in 1995 and began playing the cello at the age of five. She initially studied with Enrico Bronzi in Salzburg and with Reinhard Latzko and Heinrich Schiff in Vienna, concluding her studies with Jens Peter Maintz at the University of the Arts in Berlin and Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt at the Kronberg Academy. In the current season, she is performing with such renowned European orchestras as the Dresden Philharmonic under Krzysztof Urbański, the Orquestra Nacional de España under Giovanni Antonini, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. As a chamber musician, she has collaborated with Igor Levit and Renaud Capuçon at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, at Wigmore Hall in London, and at the Musikverein in Vienna. Other chamber music partners include Mao Fujita, Lukas Sternath, Nikolai Lugansky, and Sir András Schiff.

The Credit Suisse Young Artist Award is an initiative of Lucerne Festival, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Society for the Friends of Music in Vienna, and the Credit Suisse Foundation. Outstanding young musical figures are chosen for the award in recognition of their extraordinary achievements. The winners receive funding as well as an opportunity to perform at Lucerne Festival. The award includes a cash prize of CHF 75,000 and is conferred every two years. (The Prix Credit Suisse Jeunes Solistes to support highly talented young musicians in Switzerland is given in alternating years.) The maximum age is 30. Invitation to participate is based on nomination by a panel of experts. Together with the Chairman Michael Haefliger, the Selection Committee consists of Professor Alexander Steinberger, Vice President of the Vienna Philharmonic; Stefan Pauly, Director of the Society for the Friends of Music in Vienna; the music critic Dr. Peter Hagmann; and Pamela Rosenberg, Director Emeritus of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Previous prize winners have included Quirine Viersen (cello/2000), Patricia Kopatchinskaja (violin/2002), Sol Gabetta (cello/2004), Martin Helmchen (piano/2006), Antoine Tamestit (viola/2008), Nicolas Altstaedt (cello/2010), Vilde Frang (violin/2012), Sergey Khachatryan (violin/2014), Simone Rubino (percussion/2016), Kian Soltani (cello/2018), and Valentine Michaud (saxophone/2020). Credit Suisse has been a Main Sponsor of Lucerne Festival in Summer since 1993 and supports the Vienna Philharmonic’s annual concerts.