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

The first stage of the final is being held on October 25, and streaming 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 Semi-Final, the Finals are streaming LIVE now on The Violin Channel. The competition will then conclude on October 27 with the final event at Teatro Carlo Felice — on the 241^st anniversary of the birth of the great Genoa violinist and composer.

The finalists are:

• Hawijch Elders
• Haram Kim
• Koshiro Takeuchi
• 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.