Brazilian conductor Tobias Volkmann received audience award of the XVIII international Musical Olympus Festival that took place in St Petersburg from May 21 to June 2. Apart from a silver Easter egg handmade by a famous jeweler Vladimir Mikhailov, Tobias Volkmann will also have a chance to take part at the presentation concerts of the Festival in Switzerland, Germany, and the USA.

The audience could vote for their favourite performer during all seven concerts of the Festival by filling out a special form. Among the leaders according to the number of votes were Federico Colli (Italy, piano), Vasilena Serafimova (Bulgaria, percussion) and Anna Jihye Sohn (Korea, soprano). But by a slender majority Tobias Volkmann (Brazil) became the winner of the audience prize.

Tobias Volkmann, II prize and Orchestra prize winner of the 2012 Jorma Panula International Conducting Competition Vaasa, Finland), performed at the Festival concert on May, 24 at the State Academic Capella. The State Hermitage Orchestra under his baton and musicians from France (Nicolas Moutier, trombone), Korea (Ah Ruem Ahn, piano) and Russia (Igor Yeliseev, double bass) played the pieces by Beethoven, Grondahl, Tubin, and Rachmaninoff. The audience was impressed with the high level of mastery demonstrated by the Brazilian conductor.

Tobias Volkmann is one of the leading young Brazilian conductors who already enjoys international recognition. Volkmann had his professional debut leading the Petrobras Symphony Orchestra in Rio de Janeiro, soon followed by engagements in several countries. Among the orchestras Volkmann has conducted in concert are the Porto Symphony Orchestra - Casa da Música (Portugal), Chile Symphony Orchestra, Lyatoshinsky Orchestra (Ukraine), different city orchestras in Finland, and Minas Gerais Philharmonic. Since 2012, Tobias Volkmann holds the position of assistant conductor at the Theatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro, one of South America's leading opera houses. 

In 2013, the Musical Olympus Festival gathered in St Petersburg musicians from 11 countries: Australia, Brazil, Korea, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ukraine, and Russia. The concerts of the Festival have been attended by over 4 thousand listeners. The next presentation concerts will take place in September (Baku) and October (Zurich).