Lionel Tertis and Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competitions Announce 2025 Candidates

Over 60 participants have been selected for the live rounds of both competitions in January 2025

The two longstanding British viola competitions, the Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition (CAIVC) and the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition (LTIVC), will be held concurrently in 2025. 

To be hosted at the Gateshead venue The Glasshouse, both events will become the platform to some of the world’s best young violists. The CAIVC is for violists aged 18 and under, while the LTIVC is open to violists aged 19 to 30.

Both competitions will take place between January 19 and 25, 2025. In the later stages of the competition, candidates will be accompanied by the Northern Sinfonia.

The 2025 Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition are:

• Rodrigo Agudelo-Celda (Spain)
• Aiden Bhak (UK)
• Jolie Biscendial (The Netherlands)
• Maj Bommas (Germany)
• Bobbie Chen (UK)
• Jemimah Davies (UK)
• Hao Ding (China)
• Jaeyun Han (South Korea)
• Jackson Hill (USA/Canada)
• Mina Hobson-Mazur (UK)
• Jennifer Kang (USA)
• Jihyo Kim (South Korea)
• Isabella Koo (Australia)
• Aiden McDonald (UK)
• Eunush Park (South Korea)
• Hsuan Wei Chen (Taiwan)
• Luisa Ye (Germany)
• Lu Yinuo (China)
• Chenrong Zhàng (China)
• JiaNing Zhang (China)
• Xunyu Zhou (China)

The 2025 Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition candidates are:

• Rebecca Benjamin (USA)
• Toby Cook (UK)
• Jozefien Dumortier (Belgium)
• Francisca Barradas Vaz Galante (Portugal)
• Adèle Ginestet (France)
• Weronika Dziadek (Poland)
• Guillaume Florès (France)
• Lise Guérin (France)
• Héloïse Houzé (France)
• Vanessa Hristova (Bulgaria)
• Wanxinyi Huang (China)
• James Kang (USA)
• Brian Isaacs (USA)
• Hiroko Kasai (Japan/ UK)
• Heshun Ji (China)
• Jack Kessler (USA)
• Ami-Louise Johnsson (Sweden)
• Sumin Kim (South Korea)
• Justin Julian (Australia)
• Mao Konishi (Japan)
• Yizilin Liang (China)
• Katie Liu (USA)
• Matthew McDowell (USA)
• Zechariah Mo (USA)
• Julia Patecka (Poland)
• Alexander Pozdniakovas (Finland)
• Elsa Rapisarda (Italy)
• Sam Rosenthal (USA)
• Alinka Rowe (UK)
• Stephen Savage (USA)
• Kyungsik Shin (South Korea)
• Sofia Silva Sousa (Portugal)
• Sarah Strohm (Switzerland/Germany)
• Otoha Tabata (Japan)
• Yanan Wang (China)
• Charlotta Westerback (Finland)
• Paul Weiner (France)
• Xueer Wu (China)
• Semin Yim (South Korea)
• Zihan Zhang (China)

First prize for both the CAIVC and LTIVC will include a £5,000 cash award, a debut album with Champs Hill Records, and a shared recital at London’s Wigmore Hall in October, 2025. 

The winner of the CAIVC will also receive a Robert Shallock bow sponsored by Bishop Instruments & Bows Ltd., alongside two sets of Pirastro viola strings and one Pirastro Rosin. The top prize winner of the LTIVC will receive an option to borrow a fine viola for a year through the Beare’s International Violin Society.

The second and third prizes will be awarded with £3,000 and £2,000, respectively. Special prizes at £1,000 each include the best performances of the Competition Commission, work by a British Composer, and best rendition of the Brahms Songs.

Chaired by George Caird, the 2025 CAIVC jury will comprise Françoise Gneri, Robin Ireland, Lilli Maijala, and Thomas Selditz. The 2025 LTIVC jury will comprise Garfield Jackson, Sheng Li, Thomas Riebl, Asdis Valdimarsdottir, and its chairperson Jo Cole.