VC LIVE | Italy’s 2023 “Il Piccolo Violino Magico” Competition

Organized by the Accademia d’archi Arrigoni, the annual competition is open to international violinists aged 9 to 13 years old and will be streamed LIVE here on The Violin Channel

We’re coming to you from San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy for the 2023 “Il Piccolo Violino Magico” International Competition for Young Violinists.

The Final will be streamed LIVE here on The Violin Channel on Sunday July 9th at 8.30am (ET). The Semi-Final stage is now available for playback below.

This year's four finalists are:

For the final stage, each finalist will perform the first movements of either Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E minor, Paganini's Violin Concerto in D Major, Wieniawski's Violin Concerto in D minor, Saint-Saëns' Violin Concerto in B minor or Khachaturian's Violin Concerto in D minor with conductor Giancarlo Guarino and the FVG Orchestra.

Mio Imai (b. 2010 Japan) - Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2 in d minor

Lu Jayda (b. 2011 Australia) - Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in e minor

Yeonah Kim (b. 2014 South Korea) - Saint-Saens Violin Concerto No. 3 in b minor

Elizabeth Song (b. 2009 United States) - Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2 in d minor

FRIDAY 7 JULY | SEMI-FINAL ROUND | 3.30AM (ET)

For the semi-final stage, each of the 10 candidates will perform a Mozart Violin Concerto, Cristian Carrara’s “Magic Violin Dance” plus either Paganini or Novacek’s “Moto Perpetual” or Reis’ “Perpetuum Mobile” with the Accademia d’Archi Arrigoni.

Qingyuan Yang (b. 2010 China)

Alexander Erokhin Gomez (b. 2009 Spain)

Chelsea Gu (b. 2012 Canada)

Mio Imai (b. 2010 Japan)

Yoshino Imaiida (b. 2010 Japan)

Lu Jayda (b. 2011 Australia)

Yeonah Kim (b. 2014 South Korea)

Noah Lee (b. 2011 South Korea)

Leone Pini (b. 2009 Italy)

Elizabeth Song (b. 2009 United States)

The jury comprises Pavel Vernikov (Chair), Koh Gabriel Kameda, Janne Malmivaara, Henja Semmler, George Tudorache, Robin Wilson and Yamei Yu.

This year's 1st Prize winner will receive €5.000 plus a contemporary violin made by Italian maker Fabio Piagentini — courtesy of the Risonanze Festival.