Antonio Mormone International Prize Announces Finalists

Elli Choi, Hawijch Elders, and Anna Im will compete for the €30,000 cash prize

Presented by La Società dei Concerti Foundation, the Antonio Mormone International Prize was established to support and promote young artists. The prize is held once every four years, and its second edition, which takes place in 2025, is dedicated to the violin.

In total, the competition received 51 applications from 19 countries. Ten semi-finalists performed in concerts in Italy and abroad across ten months from May 2024 to March 2025.

The three finalists are Elli Choi, Hawijch Elders, and Anna Im.

Anna Im was the winner of the  Stuttgart International Violin Competition and the 10th Michael Hill International Violin Competition. She studied with Shmuel Ashkenasi and Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music, and then with So-Ock Kim at the Royal Academy of Music.

Dutch violinist Hawijch Elders is currently Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, where she studies with Augustin Dumay. She won First Prize at the 8^th International Violin Competition Henri Marteau in May 2023 and was also named winner of the Leonid Kogan International Competition for Young Violinists in 2021.

Elli Choi won Third Prize at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition. She is currently studying economics and philosophy at Columbia University while also training at The Juilliard School. Choi was a prizewinner at the Classic Strings Competition in Dubai, the Fritz Kreisler Competition, and the Qingdao Competition.

The first prize winner will receive a €30,000 cash prize, an album recording with Universal Music Group, three years of artistic support coordinated by the Fondazione La Società dei Concerti, plus concert engagements in Italy and abroad.

Each of the second and third prize winners will receive €5,000. A concert offered by the Club degli Amici del Premio Internazionale Antonio Mormone will be awarded to the candidate with the most votes from the public.

The prize is overseen by its honorary president Evgeny Kissin, while the prize’s honor committee is chaired by Dr. Gianni Letta. Eddardo Zosi will serve as artistic director of the second edition.