This is yet another success story for ANSA/Orquestra Clássica da Madeira. The young violinist Veronika Taraban won the 1st Prize in Category A of the Aleksey Gorokhov International Violin Competition, part of the Convimus International Music Festival, held between the 22nd and 29th of July in the city of Porto.
For the Kiev International Violin Competition Aleksey Gorokhov, which took place in the city of Porto, violinists of any nationality and with no age limit could register, with a total of 45 violinists from 15 different nationalities having registered. Veronika Taraban began her violin studies at the age of five at the Conservatório – Escola Profissional das Artes da Madeira. As a violin student, she completed the Basic Professional Instrument Course and Professional Instrumentalist Course at the Conservatório-Escola Profissional das Artes da Madeira in the class of professor Olga Proudnikova.
She completed her degree at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa in the class of Professor Tamila Kharambura; she is a member of a trio in the Chamber Music discipline, guided by Professor Paulo Pacheco; and, currently, she is a student of the Master in Teaching also at the Superior School of Music in Lisbon. During her studies she performed in several solo concerts and in chamber music ensembles. In 2005, she performed as a soloist with the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira, having performed the Concerto in A minor for violin and orchestra by A. Vivaldi.
She participated in several regional, national and international competitions for young violinists, having been awarded several prizes in Portugal, such as:
1st Prize in the Children’s Competition of the Conservatório Escola das Artes da Madeira (Funchal, 2004, 2005);
1st Prize at the “International Forum – Musical Interpretation and Pedagogy in the 21st Century” (Lisbon, 2006; Funchal, 2007);
Grand-Prix at the “International Forum – Musical Interpretation and Pedagogy in the 21st Century” (Funchal, 2017);
3rd Place in the “2018 Young Musicians Award” Superior Level in Chamber Music.
She was named Concertmaster of the Youth Orchestra, in 2015, and head of the second violin section of the same Orchestra, in 2016, having worked with maestros Ernest Schelle and Pedro Andrade. She participated in the OJ Soloist Contest, taking second place (2017).
She performed several internships at the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira, having worked with Maestros Rui Pinheiro, Igor Gruppman, Luís Andrade and Jan Wierzba. On June 1, 2019, as part of the “Young Soloists Cycle”, she was invited as a soloist by the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira to perform the Concerto in R major by Piotr Tchaikovsky for violin and orchestra. In 2016, she performed an internship under the Erasmus+ program at the “Georg Ots” School of Music in Tallinn, Estonia.
In March 2018, she performed as a soloist with Orquestra de Repertório under the guidance of Professor Jean-Marc Burfin, at the Festival de Cordas da ESML. She attended improvement courses and masterclasses with renowned violinists, such as: Alissa Margulis, Gerardo Ribeiro, Igor and Vesna Gruppman, Ilya Grubert, Natália Morozova, Pavel Vernikov, Svetlana Makarova, among others.
Veronika has performed in several national venues both solo and in chamber music.