Prizewinners Announced at the Paris International Lutherie Competition

Luthiers Piotr Pielaszek and Viateur Roy shared the top prize in the professional category, while Eva Schulz won the student category

The second edition of the International Lutherie Competition, run by the Philharmonie de Paris and Talents & Violon'celles, recently came to a close. The competition aims to promote excellence in violin-making and highlight the connection between lutherie and performance by inviting the violinists of the Orchestre de Paris to demonstrate the instruments.

The competition made its awards in two broad categories: Talents d'aujourd'hui (Talents of Today/professional category) and Talents de demain (Tomorrow's Talents/student category).

The top prize in the professional category was shared by the Polish luthier Piotr Pielaszek and the French luthier Viateur Roy, who also won the special prize of the luthiers' jury. The German luthier Florian Zinkhahn received second prize in this category, as well as the special prizes of the musicians' jury and the violinists of the Orchestre de Paris.

Eva Schulz of the Schweizer Geigenbauschule Brienz won the student category and the special prize of the luthiers' jury, with Eglantine Minvielle (École Nationale De Lutherie De Mirecourt) in second place and Changhun Lee (Istituto d'Istruzione Superiore Antonio Stradivari Cremona) in third place.

The audience prize went to Nicolas Gilles.

In 2024, the jury comprised Raphaël Pidoux (chair), violinists Tanja Becker-Bender, Roland Daugareil, and Jean-Jacques Kantorow, and luthiers Andrea Frandsen, Silvio Levaggi, and Julie Reed-Yeboah.