Italy's 57th "Premio Paganini" International Violin Competition Announces 3 Finalists

The last stage of the finals will be held on October 27 and streamed LIVE on The Violin Channel

The Premio Paganini Competition was founded in 1954 to pay homage to the famous virtuoso from Genoa.

After an exciting first stage of finals streamed on The Violin Channel, the final event of the competition will be held on October 27 at Teatro Carlo Felice — on the 241^st anniversary of the birth of the great Genoa violinist and composer.

The 3 finalists are:

• Qingzhu Weng
• Jingzhi Zhang
• Simon Zhu

The First Prize, entitled “Premio Paganini,” will receive € 30,000, while the 2nd Prize is at € 20,000 and the 3rd Prize is at € 10,000. 4th through 6th Prize will receive € 4,000, € 3,000, and € 2,000 respectively.

The competition's special prize goes to the finalist who gets the best audience vote. You can vote here.

The Premio Paganini winner will also be invited to perform at an impressive list of concerts, found here, at world-renowned institutions beginning with Teatro alla Scala in Milan.

Additionally, the winner will be offered the opportunity to play the "Cannone" — the famous violin made in 1743 by the luthier Giuseppe Guarneri "del Gesù" which Paganini gave to his hometown and which is now kept in Palazzo Tursi, seat of the Municipality of Genoa.

The 2023 jury includes Salvatore Accardo (President) Ilya Grubert, Michael Guttman, Christopher Reuning, Maxim Vengerov, Reiko Watanabe, and Régis Pasquier.

Former first prize winners including Gyorgy Pauk, Gérard Poulet, Salvatore Accardo, Gidon Kremer, Ilya Grubert, Leonidas Kavakos, Ilya Gringolts, Sayaka Shoji, Ning Feng, and VC Artists Inmo Yang and Kevin Zhu.

The relaunch of the competition is strongly supported by Genoa's Mayor Marco Bucci, who entrusted the Presidency of the Prize to Giovanni Panebianco, former Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture.