22-year-old Yuliia Van from Ukraine and 24-year-old Roman Kholmatov from Ukraine have been awarded joint-1st prize at the 2018 Mirecourt International Violin Competition – in Mirecourt, France. A graduate

French-Armenian violin virtuoso Jean Ter-Merguerian has passed away, in Marseille, France – aged 79. A student of Karp Dombayev and David Oistrakh, Mr Ter-Merguerian was a former prize winner at the Tchaikovsky, Queen Elisabeth and Long-Thibaud International Violin Competitions. He served a long-term teaching position at the Yerevan Komitas State Conservatory.