New York, NY (APOGEE FOUNDATION) – The Apogee Foundation today announced that Apogee World Scholars Vadim Muntagirov and Dmitrij Smirnov had won seven of the world's most prestigious performing arts competitions in the last seven months. Muntagirov's victories occurred at four major events in the course of five months, and Smirnov's victories at three major events in the course of four months. For Muntagirov, these victories included the grand prize at the St. Petersburg International Ballet Competition where, at 16, he was the youngest participant, second prize at the Perm Intenational Ballet Competition (where first prize was awarded to a Marinsky soloist nearly ten years his senior), first prize at the Kazan International Ballet Competition, and the President's Prize at the Prix de Lausanne where, at 15, he was the minimum age allowed to participate. At the St. Petersburg competition, Muntagirov also received the title "Hope of Russia" from the jury chaired by Natalya Makarova, one of the greatest dancers in history. Smirnov's victories included the grand prize of the Il Piccolo Violino Magico competition in Venice, which he received last week at this invitation-only event for the world's 15 most gifted young violinists, as well as first prize at the
David Oistrakh international violin competition in Moscow, and Apogee's Rising Star Award for the top performer at the Crescendo Festival in St. Petersburg where, at 12, Smirnov became the youngest person ever to receive this level of professional recognition. Based on his performances at the Venice competition, Smirnov also was awarded the special jury prize including the use of a
Giuseppe Gagliano (1782) violin during the ensuing year of his training.
The success of these two Apogee World Scholars further demonstrates the Foundation's ability to identify elite performing artists from the earliest years of their training and to fulfill their potential throughout the course of their career cycles. Apogee World Scholarships are the Foundation's most pretigious level of student award, provided to those who have attained indisputably world class stature capable of propelling them to historically significant levels of achievement in their fields. World Scholars are provided with a full spectrum of career support by the Foundation which is designed to insure that they achieve their potential on the world stage, including benefits enabling them to train wherever in the world is most suitable for their ongoing development. As part of his World Scholarship, Vadim Muntagirov yesterday began a year of training at the Royal Ballet School in London under the Foundation's supervision.
For more information on the Apogee World Scholar program, please refer to the Foundation's website: https://www.apogeefoundation.org/awards/excellence/world.php
Muntagirov has been a student at the Perm State Ballet School for the last six years under the tutelage of Apogee Achievement Award laureates Sergey Chernayev and Yuri Sidorov. Apogee identified Vadim as a person of extraordinary ability during his first year of training there, at the age of nine, and has provided him with Apogee Merit Scholarships in every year since. Vadim was further named the first Apogee World Scholar from central Russia in 2005. His election to study at the Royal Ballet School during the coming year under the terms of his World Scholarship is consistent with Apogee's mission of bringing together the best of East and West, in this case honoring and uniting in and through his exceptionally talented individual two historic ballet traditions: the Perm and London Schools.
For more information on Vadim Muntagirov, please see the website maintained by the Foundation on his behalf: https://www.muntagirov.com
Violin prodigy Dmitrij Smirnov studies at the Rimsky-Korsakov State Music School in St. Petersburg, which is the leading institution in the region for the training of gifted young musicians. He was identified by Apogee as a person of extraordinary ability during his performances at the 2006 Crescendo Festival, where he was selected by Apogee's award jury as the outstanding performer of the event. This selection entitled him to receive both an Apogee Merit Scholarship for the coming year and a special edition of Apogee's Rising Star Award. When Smirnov was further named an Apogee World Scholar at the start of this academic year, he became the youngest person ever to receive this highest level of student recognition.
Apogee also has announced that Smirnov will perform with as many as a dozen other Apogee award laureates and as many as thirty other elite young musicians at the upcoming Apogee Music Festival in Odessa from 25 to 28 September of this year.
For more information on Apogee's Music Festival in Odessa, please see the Foundation's recent press release: https://www.apogeefoundation.org/awareness/2006-2007/pr060829.php
Apogee World Scholar Vadim Muntagirov said: "I am very grateful to The Apogee Foundation for its support from the very first year of my training. I wish that all young artists could have the opportunities to fulfill their dreams in the way that being a part of the Apogee family has allowed me to fulfill mine."
Apogee President Kenneth Schneider said: "We are thrilled to have been able to play a part in the careers of these incredibly talented artists, and look forward eagerly to the magnificent accomplishments that lie ahead for them and for everyone who has the opportunity to be inspired by their special gifts."
To view this news release with full photographic content as well as in printer friendly format, and to obtain translations into other languages as they become available, please refer to the Foundation's website: www.apogeefoundation.org/awareness/2006-2007/pr060912.php
