Classical Music News

Candidates Announced for Concours de Genève Viola Competition 2025

May 5, 2025

3 MIN READ

Over 30 candidates have been selected for the competition in Geneva, Switzerland, from November 4–12, 2025

Open to all violists born after 12 November 1995, the viola edition of the Concours de Genève has announced 38 candidates following a preselection round recently held in Geneva.

The 2025 international candidates are:

Jaume Angelès Fité (28)
Álvaro Castelló Marchena (21)
Loan Cazal (27)
Eike Coetzee (23)
Junyan Du (16)
Riko Eto (24)
Nicolas Garrigues (26)
Chang Ge (20)
Adèle Ginestet (27)
Jaeyun Han (14)
Seamus Hickey (25)
Brian Isaacs (25)
Leonardo Jelve (26)
Ami-Louise Johnsson (24)
Sophie Kiening (23)
Jason Sheng-Chieh Lan (27)
Gatien Leray (23)
Yixiu Lin (23)
Laura Liu (24)
Katie Liu (26)
Eric Seohyun Moon (27)
Momoka Okada (24)
Haneul Park (24)
Alina Rowe (26)
Kiarra Saito-Beckman (26)
Stephen Savage (20)
Kyungsik Shin (26)
Sarah Strohm (19)
Anna Sypniewski (25)
Ayaka Taniguchi (22)
Cassandra Teissedre (22)
Aceland Wang (26)
Wassili Wohlgemuth (24)
Kinga Wojdalska (26)
Alessandra Yang (20)
Jieun Yoo (21)
Zihan Zhang (23)
Emad Zolfaghari (20)

These candidates now have the chance to compete for the first prize of CHF 20,000. Second prize is CHF 12,000, and third prize is awarded with CHF 8,000. For the next rounds, the 2025 candidates will prepare an online recital, which will be broadcast in September, when the semi-finalists will be announced.

The competition will also present an Audience Prize of CHF 1,500, plus the Young Audience Prize and the Students Prize worth CHF 1,000 each. Among special gifts from Pirastro Strings, other awards include the Rose-Marie Huguenin Prize of CHF 10,000, the Arts Society Prize, Hindemith Prize, and more.

The preselection round jury comprised Tabea Zimmermann (chair), Tomoko Akasaka, Noémie Bialobroda, Harold Hirtz, and Frédéric Kirch.

Also chaired by Zimmermann, the official competition jury will include Tomoko Akasaka, Ettore Causa, Hsin-Yun Huang, Cynthia Phelps, Jean Sulem, and German Tcakulov.

“Wishing all selected candidates a truly meaningful preparation period for the 79th Concours de Genève,” Zimmermann shared. “Discover new repertoire ideas, develop your skills and your stage personality, and share your love of music with us through your online recital.”