The candidates have been whittled down from 25 violin and 25 cello finalists

AlexandraConunova

The XV International Tchaikovsky Competition has named the 12 cellists and 12 violinists progressing to the second round of the live finals, which are currently underway. The candidates have been whittled down from 25 cello and 25 violin finalists, drawn from 48 cellists and 48 violinists invited to take part in auditions in Moscow.

The list of 12 violinists includes Alexandra Conunova (pictured), winner of the 2012 International Josef Joachim Violin Competition in Hannover, 2015 Queen Elisabeth Competition finalist Bomsori Kim and 2014 Singapore International Violin Competition winner Yu-Chien Tseng, while the 12 cellists include Leonard Elschenbroich, Onyx recording artist and former BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist, and Pablo Ferrández, fellow Onyx recording artist and 2015 winner of the Rheingau Music Festival award.

The full lists of violinists are:

Milyukov, Pavel – Russia

Conunova, Alexandra – Moldova

Kishima, Mayu – Japan

Kim, Younguk – South Korea

Starikov, Stepan – Russia

Kim, Bomsori – South Korea

Tseng, Yu-Chien – Taiwan

Kang, Jumi – Germany

Jang, Yoo Jin – South Korea

Kazazyan, Haik – Russia

Pospelov, Sergei – Russia

Andersen, Christopher Tun – Norway

The full list of cellists are:

Kobekina, Anastasia – Russia

Ferrández-Castro, Pablo – Spain

Elschenbroich, Leonard – Germany

Cornut, Tristan – France

Ioniță, Andrei Ionuț - Romania

Philippe, Bruno – France

Buzlov, Alexander – Russia

Worlitzsch, Valentino – Germany

Kang, Seung Min – South Korea

Amosov, Fedor – Russia

Roozeman, Jonathan – Netherlands

Ramm, Alexander – Russia

In this second live round violin candidates are expected to perform a recital programme and a Mozart concerto and the cellists must perform a recital programme and a Haydn concerto. Those violinists progressing to the third and final live round will perform the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and another concerto of their choice, while the cellists will perform Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and another concerto of their choice.

Held every four years, the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition takes place in Moscow (violinists and pianists) and St Petersburg (cellists and singers) with winners announced on 1 July in Moscow. Six winners will be chosen in each of the four disciplines: first prize category winners will be awarded $30,000 each and of these one Grand Prix recipient will be awarded an additional $100,000.

The entire 2015 competition is broadcast live via Medici TV at Tch15.medici.tv.

For full details visit the Tchaikovsky Competition website.

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