Past Competitions

After Walter Witte set up his viola foundation in 1994, he sought professional advice from leading viola professors on how to realise his idea of establishing a viola competition in Germany. The results of this survey were incorporated into the plans for the 1st COMPETITION OF THE WALTER WITTE VIOLA FOUNDATION, which took place in Markneukirchen in June 1996.

In the following years until 2017, this competition took place every three years, giving young violists studying at German music academies the opportunity to present themselves. In 2014, the competition was renamed HINDEMITH-WETTBEWERB DER VIOLA-STIFTUNG WALTER WITTE in cooperation with the HINDEMITH-INSTITUT FRANKFURT.

The list of jurors reads like a representative cross-section of the German university scene in the viola subject. For many of the participants honoured in the competition, the prize marked the beginning of a national or international career.

Following the death of its founder and after a one-year delay due to the pandemic, the Hindemith Competition was held for the first time in October 2021 in a new format as the INTERNATIONAL HINDEMITH VIOLA COMPETITION at the now permanent venue at the HOCHSCHULE FÜR MUSIK UND THEATER in Munich.