BREAKING | Semi-Finalists Announced at Italy's 2021 Paganini Competition

The Semi-Final stage will be held on October 19-20 - with the Final Round on October 23-24 to be streamed LIVE here on The Violin Channel

The 15 Semi-Finalists have today been announced at the 2021 International Violin Competition 'Premio Paganini', in Genoa, Italy.

Open to violinists of any nationality between the ages of 15 and 31, the competition was founded in 1954 with the goal of creating an international competition that would bring great prestige to the City of Genoa as well as provide a venue for the discovery of new, exceptionally-talented, young violinists.

This year’s 2021 semi-finalists are:

• Chaowen Luo (20, China)

• Louisa Staples (21, United Kingdom)

• Yukiko Uno (25, Japan)

• Qingzhu Weng (20, China)

• Rino Yoshimoto (18, Japan)

• Galiya Zharova (29, Russia)

• Christopher Tun Andersen (29, Norway)

• Olga Artyugina (30, Russia)

• Ava Bahari (24, Sweden)

• Lara Boschkor (22, Germany)

• Yige Chen (21, China)

• Nurie Chung (16, South Korea)

• Giuseppe Gibboni (20, Italy)

• Kingston Ho (20, United States)

• Areg Navarsardyan (21,Russia)

The first prize winning ‘Premio Paganini’ (Paganini Award) winner of this year's competition will be presented €30,000, 2 years of representation by the Utopia Media Agency, in Shanghai — plus more than 15 performance opportunities, including solo engagements with the Carlo Felice Theater Foundation, Orchestra of Tuscany, Lithuanian National Philharmonic, Cremonese  Stradivari Foundation, Paganini Genova Festival, and the Carro Paganiniano Festival.

This year’s winner will also receive the highly distinguished and rare honor to play a performance on the 1743 "Il Cannone" Guarneri del Gesù violin — once the prized violin of choice, of Nicolo Paganini, himself.

The opening round of the 2021 Paganini International Violin Competition — held in the Palazzo Tursi’s ‘Salone di Rappresentanza’, in Genoa, Italy | Photo: Giusi Lorelli

The Semi-Final round, requiring each candidate to perform a 55 minutes recital program, will be held at the Carlo Felice Theatre on October 19-20.

Each competitor will present a full Brahms Sonata for Violin and Piano, a virtuosic showpiece, three more additional Paganini Solo Caprices, that they’ve previously not performed in either of the opening or video submission rounds, plus a new work for solo violin specifically commissioned by the competition.

It is mandatory for all works, in all rounds, except for the Brahms Sonata in the Semi-Final round, to be performed from memory.

A maximum of six candidates will be invited to progress to this year’s Final Round — to be held on October 23-24, also at the Carlo Felice Theatre, which will be streamed LIVE here on The Violin Channel.

The opening round of the 2021 Paganini International Violin Competition — held in the Palazzo Tursi’s ‘Salone di Rappresentanza’, in Genoa, Italy | Photo: Giusi Lorelli

Regarded among the most important violin accolades in the world, former ‘Premio Paganini’ winners including Gyorgy Pauk, Salvatore Accardo, Gidon Kremer, Ilya Grubert, Leonidas Kavakos, Ilya Gringolts, Sayaka Shoji, Ning Feng, and VC Young Artists Inmo Yang and Kevin Zhu.

The opening round of the 2021 Paganini International Violin Competition — held in the Palazzo Tursi’s ‘Salone di Rappresentanza’, in Genoa, Italy | Photo: Giusi Lorelli

This year’s jury comprises a selection of expert violinists, composers, conductors, representatives of musical institutions and music critics of different nationalities, who are recognized for their experience, competence, integrity, impartiality and honesty of judgement.

The 2021 jury comprises: Sergei Krylov (President), Pietro Borgonovo, Pierangelo Conte, Francesca Dego, Stephanie Gonley, Aiman Mussakhajayeva, Christoph Poppen, Jacobs Soelberg, and Pavel Vernikov.

Any jury member who has taught a candidate, either privately or publicly within the preceding two years of the competition’s commencement, will be required to remove themselves from all discussions regarding the competitor and will refrain from submitting any votes for that candidate.

The opening round of the 2021 Paganini International Violin Competition — held in the Palazzo Tursi’s ‘Salone di Rappresentanza’, in Genoa, Italy | Photo: Giusi Lorelli

For full schedule, visit: www.premiopaganini.it.