Meet the Finalists for the Classic Violin Olympus International Competition 2025

The final, which will be taking place from April 26 to 28, 2025, will be live streamed here on The Violin Channel

Open to violinists of any age, the inaugural Classic Violin Olympus International Competition aims to find the most versatile violinist in the world. The finals will be taking place from April 26–28, 2025, in Dubai, UAE, and will be streamed live here on The Violin Channel.

From the pre-selection stages held throughout the year, the 12 finalists were drawn from the first and second-prize winners of the rounds held in Dubai, London, Rome, New York, Vienna, and Tokyo.

The 2025 finalists are:

• Soyoung Yoon (South Korea)
• Andrey Baranov (Switzerland)
• Boris Brovtsyn (Austria)
• Jinzhu Li (China)
• Haik Kazazyan (Armenia)
• Lorenz Karls(Sweden)
• Xiao Wang (China)
• Karisa Chiu (US)
• Yuki Hirano (Japan)
• Mariusz Patyra (Poland)
• Elli Choi (US)
• Ruifeng Lin (China)

The 12 finalists will undergo a six-phase program designed to bring out varying skills — including a performance with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra and the Madrid Philharmonic Orchestra, solo performances, and a Q&A with the jurors.

The First Prize winner will be awarded €200,000 out of a total prize pool of €310,000. They will also receive a Stradivari model violin specially crafted by the violinmaker Fabio Piagentini.

The remaining 11 finalists will each be awarded €10,000 in prize money.

"We’re all extremely excited for this Grand Finale”, said Pavel Vernikov, the Artistic Director of Classic Violin Olympus. “It has been a long journey to get here, and now we’re really eager to see it all come to fruition here in Dubai. There is a cohort of amazing finalists waiting to show us all what they can do, gathered together from all around the world, and I’m sure it’s going to be a contest unlike anything else that the world has ever seen!"

Additionally, the 25-member jury board of preeminent conductors and directors of acclaimed orchestras, festivals, and concert series, will each offer a number of finalists the opportunity to perform live at one of their upcoming concerts. The 2025 jury includes:

• Pavel Vernikov, Artistic Director (Switzerland)
• Facundo Agudin (Switzerland/Argentina)
• Vicente Alberola (Spain)
• Giselle Ben Dor (USA)
• Mauro Bucarelli (Italy)
• Epifanio Comis (Italy)
• Damiano Cottalasso (Italy)
• Mischa Damev (Switzerland)
• Dražen Domjanić (Liechtenstein)
• Jurek Dybał (Poland)
• Umberto Fanni (Italy)
• Jean-Baptiste Fra (France)
• Robert Hanč (Czech Republic)
• Eleanor Hope (Ireland)
• Konstantin Ilievsky (Bulgaria)
• Daye Lin (China)
• Tigran Mikaelyan (Germany)
• Lucas Macías Navarro (Spain)
• Marios Papadopoulos (UK)
• Christoph Poppen (Germany)
• Sergey Smbatyan (Armenia)
• Anu Tali (Estonia)
• Christiane Weber (Switzerland)
• Christopher Widauer (Austria)
• Lena-Lisa Wüstendörfer (Switzerland)

To learn more about the competition, visit classicviolinolympus.com.