This year’s contest, celebrating the centenary of its famous namesake, takes place in London

ZiyuHe

The Menuhin Competition 2016 has revealed the nine candidates progressing to the Senior Semi-Finals, taking place at London’s Royal Academy of Music on Wednesday.

Each of the nine violinists, aged between 16 and 20, will perform the first movement of Bartók's Solo Sonata and Enescu's Impromptu concertant. They will also perform their choice of a Beethoven String Trio and a virtuoso work with or without piano.

Among the remaining Senior competitors are 16-year-old Ziyu He (pictured), winner of the 2014 Eurovision Young Musicians competition in Cologne, Germany, and 20-year-old Youjin Lee, who won first prize at the Irving M. Klein International String Competition in San Francisco in 2013.

The nine Senior Semi-Finalists are:

Qing Yu Chen, 16, USA

Yu-Ting Chen, 20, Taiwan

SongHa Choi, 16, South Korea

Ziyu He, 16, China

Ariel Horowitz, 19, USA

Do Gyung (Anna) Im, 18, South Korea

Jeein Kim, 20, South Korea

Youjin Lee, 20, South Korea

Louisa Staples, 16, UK

The biennial Menuhin Competition, this year marking Menuhin’s 100th anniversary, takes place from 7-17 April in London. The 2016 jury comprises former laureates Julia Fischer, Ray Chen, Tasmin Little, Ning Feng and Joji Hattori, in addition to pianist Jeremy Menuhin, Korean violinist Dong-Suk Kang, director of the Verbier Festival Martin Engstroem and jury chair Pamela Frank.

The 2014 Menuhin Competition Senior Division was won by Stephen Waarts, while Rennosuke Fukuda triumphed in the Junior Division.

Visit the Menuhin Competition website for full details.

Read: Menuhin Competition 2016 names 10 violinists through to the Junior Semi Finals