Trio Marvin has taken out the $30,000 Grand Prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, as well as the $22,500 First Prize in the Piano Trio division. German-South Korean Trio Gaon won Second Prize in the Piano Trio division, while Third Prize went to the Amatis Piano Trio, with musicians from the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.

Trio Marvin: Cellist Marius Urba, pianist Vita Kan and violinist Marina Grauman. Photo © Mike Keating

Germany’s Goldmund Quartet won First Prize in the String Quartet division, taking home $30,000, with the Eliot Quartett – from Austria, Russia and Germany – taking second and the USA’s Callisto Quartet taking Third Prize.

“The standard has been exceptional, making the jurors’ decision extremely challenging,” MICMC Artistic Director Wilma Smith said. “We’ve been privileged to witness the future of chamber music taking shape right here in Melbourne. And what a future that will be!”

All competitors in the second round of heats performed new works by Australian composers commissioned especially for the competition. The Goldmund Quartet won the Quartet Commission Prize for the best performance of Holly Harrison’s Balderdash and Trio Gaon...