Jana Bojanowski, a PreCollege student (aged 15) in Tatjana Vassiljeva’s class, was awarded the Irene Schulte-Hillen Prize by the German Music Foundation at the 26th Sylt Summer Concert organised by the foundation. With this prize, she was recognised as one of the youngest prize-winners in this year’s competition organised by the German Musical Instrument Fund. In February, as part of the competition, she won the right to play a historic cello by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume, Paris 1845, from the German Musical Instrument Fund, and received it on loan.
In connection with this, Evelyn Turinsky music journalism student from the Karlsruhe University of Music conducted an interview with her, which was published on the Junger Kulturkanal and in the BNN.
Baden TV has also featured her in a profile.
Jana Bojanowski was born in Karlsruhe in 2010. She began her musical training at the age of four at the Badisches Konservatorium Karlsruhe under Andreas Köhler. Since December 2019, she has been taking lessons with Prof. Ivan Monighetti in Basel. Since April 2026, she has also been studying at the PreCollege of the Karlsruhe University of Music in Prof. Tatjana Vassiljeva’s class, where she will begin her Bachelor’s degree in the winter term of 2026/27.
Jana Bojanowski attended the music stream at the Helmholtz-Gymnasium in Karlsruhe, where she successfully completed her Abitur this year at the age of 15.
Her artistic career has been marked by numerous competition successes. From 2016 to 2025, she won first prizes at regional, state and national levels in the ‘Jugend musiziert’ competition – most recently in June 2025 in the categories of solo cello and piano trio. Jana has also won first prizes internationally, for example in 2024 at the Barcelona International Young Artist Competition (BIYAC), in 2023 at the String Competition Online, the International Artists Competition and the Royal Maas Competition.
In February 2026, she won an instrument from the German Musical Instrument Fund at the 33rd competition organised by the German Music Foundation.
Jana gained important artistic inspiration from masterclasses with renowned figures and professors from the international cello world: as early as July 2019, she was accepted as the youngest participant in Prof. Wolfgang Boettcher’s masterclass as part of the Carl Flesch Academy in Baden-Baden. She received further valuable guidance from, amongst others, Prof. Wen-Sinn Yang, Prof. David Geringas and Prof. Jens-Peter Maintz. At the renowned Ravel Festival in Saint-Jean-de-Luz in August 2025, she was taught by Sol Gabetta and Prof. Ivan Monighetti.
Jana’s concert career as a soloist and chamber musician has already taken her to many European countries. Among her musical highlights is a joint performance with the cellist Prof. Jean-Guihen Queyras at the Ravel Festival.
As a soloist, she has performed with various orchestras, including the Budweis Philharmonic Orchestra, the Reial Cercle Artístic Barcelona Orchestra, the Geringas Chamber Orchestra and the Lake Constance Philharmonic Orchestra in Konstanz.
Jana receives support from various institutions. Having been awarded scholarships by the Baden Conservatoire and the Riemschneider Foundation, she has been a scholarship holder at the Liechtenstein Music Academy since September 2022, where she regularly takes part in the intensive courses. Since September 2025, she has been a scholarship holder of the Art&Strings Foundation and the German Music Life Foundation, where she also receives support through a sponsorship scheme. In July 2026, she was awarded the Irene Schulte-Hillen Memorial Prize by the German Music Life Foundation.
Jana plays a cello by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (Paris, 1845), which she has received on loan from the German Music Life Foundation.