Australia’s Kendall National Violin Competition Announces Finalists

Seven finalists were announced at this year’s edition of the competition, held in New South Wales, Australia

The Kendall National Violin Competition (KNVC) was formed in 1999 when renowned Australian luthier Graham Caldersmith offered to donate a concert violin made from Australian timbers each year as a prize. The KNVC is open to violinists aged 23 and younger who are citizens or residents of Australia.

​Held in two categories, the KNVC 2022 finalists are:

Category A (violinists born after January 1, 2004)

Hannah Kim 

Jessica Ma

Ein Na

Category B (violinists born after January 1, 1997 and before January 1, 2005)

David Carreon 

Beatrice Colombis 

Jimmy Park 

Andrew Wang 

The 2022 prizes for Category A include a concert violin made by luthier Michal Prokop valued at $15,000 AUD for the first-prize winner; $2,000 for second place; and $1,000 for third place. 

For Category B, the first prize is $8,500; second prize is $3,000; third prize ia $1,500; and fourth prize is $1,000. An audience prize of $750 will also be awarded.

The competition final will be held on March 4, 2023, at the Kendall School of Arts, Kendall, NSW. The 2022-23 jury is yet to be announced. The KNVC is administered by a committee of volunteers under the artistic directorship of  Goetz Richter, who is also an associate violin professor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. 

Previous first-prize winners include VC Artists Ray Chen and Grace Clifford.