Laureates of the Prix Yves Paternot are ambassadors of the Verbier Festival, its Academy, and the excellence they represent.
Yves Paternot was an emblematic figure of the Verbier Festival. A founder of the Friends of the Verbier Festival and member of the Festival’s Foundation Board. In tribute to his commitment, the Prix Yves Paternot recognises the Academy’s most promising musician each summer. The Laureate receives CHF 10,000, an invitation to perform at a future edition of the Festival, and is eligible for a contribution of up to CHF 15,000 to support his or her artistic and professional development.
Yves Paternot with daughter Sophie
laureates
Meigui Zhang soprano
Laureate 2019
Chinese soprano Meigui Zhang earned her master’s degree from the Mannes School of Music in New York and completed her bachelor’s degree at Shanghai Conservatory and Sichuan Conservatory. She now lives in New York where she is part of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of Bloody Child in Macbeth in 2019–2020. She also sang the role of Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro that season.
Timothy Chooi violin
Laureate 2018
Just months after being named 2018 Prix Yves Paternot Laureate, Canadian violinist Timothy Chooi went on to win First Prize at the Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition (Hanover) and Second Prize at Belgium’s Queen Elisabeth Competition. He was also awarded a scholarship to the two-year Artist Diploma Program at The Juilliard School, through which he will make debuts at Carnegie Hall and the Berlin Philharmonie. Funds from the Prix Yves Paternot assited him with these career-building opportunities.
Adèle Charvet mezzo-soprano
Laureate 2017
French mezzo-soprano Adèle Charvet is regularly featured on Radio France and has a full calendar of both song and opera projects. She recently formed the vocal quartet L’Archipel, for which partial funds from her prize were used to produce a promotional video. The remainder of these funds have financed a recording project of English and American songs, called ‘Long Time Ago’. The disc was released in late 2019 on the Alpha label.
Milan Siljanov bass-baritone
Laureate 2016
After receiving the inaugural Prix Yves Paternot, Swiss bass-baritone Milan Siljanov went on to win Second Prize at Munich’s ARD Music Competition in 2018 and the start of busy professional career. He has returned to the Verbier Festival twice since 2016: first, in 2018 in the role of Prince de Bouillon in Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur, and again in 2019 as Der Einarmige in Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten. Siljanov is now developing a song recording project that will be supported by the funds of his Prix Yves Paternot.
