The annual competition for violinists under the age of 13 will take place from 7 to 13 July in San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy

Hyunsuk Ryu 1

Photo: Elia Falaschi/Phocus Agency

2024 Il Piccolo Violino Magico winner Hyunsuk Ryu

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Il Piccolo Violino Magico International Competition for young violinists has selected its candidates for the 2025 edition.

This year’s competition will take place over three rounds from 7 to 13 July 2025 in San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy. The annual competition is open to violinists aged 13 and below of any nationality.

Competitors will perform for the top prize of €5,000, plus a violin made by Fabio Piagentini from Italian wood from Tarvisio forest donated by Risonanze Festival, worth €9,000. Scholarship prizes of €3,000, €2,000 and €1,000 will be awarded to second, third and fourth place respectively.

Candidates not admitted to the final round will be offered the opportunity to to attend a free violin masterclass by the Accademia d’Archi Arrigoni, run by jury members on 12 July.

The jury will be presided by Pavel Vernikov and comprises Latica Honda-Rosenberg, So-Ock Kim, Jens Lohmann, Alberto Martini, Yury Revich and Dmitry Smirnov.

The official candidates are:

Yiheng Gao, China (b.2011)

Francesca Peihan He, UK (b.2011)

Laila Honda, Germany (b.2012)

Soojin Choi, South Korea (b.2012)

Bowen Jin, Australia/US (b.2012)

Laura Jin, Australia (b.2012)

Yaner Jin, China (b.2013)

Sacha Jorba-Wu, Canada (b.2012)

Seong-On Kim, South Korea (b.2012)

Sumireko Matsushima, Japan (b.2014)

Megan Ng, Australia (b.2013)

Yurina Ohsawa, Japan (b.2013)

Mykola Pososhko, Ukraine/Switzerland (b.2012)

Nina Rakočević, Serbia (b.2011)

Lin Tokura, Japan/US (b.2011)

Camille Valla Pesendorfer, France (b.2011)

Muqi Yuan, China (b.2013)

Ziqian Zhang, China (b.2011)

Additionally, eleven live-selection candidates will compete for five remaining places in the main draw, on the day before the start of the competition. They are:

Ana-Maria Advahov, Moldova/Austria (b.2012)

Cathy Xi Chen, Singapore (b.2014)

Tatjana Filimonova, Switzerland (b.2012)

Theo Hoelscher, Germany (b.2012)

Georgia Koumentakou, Belgium (b.2012)

Alina Yixuan Li, China/Germany (b.2011)

Phelix LIu, US (b.2011)

Lena Maciąg, Poland (b.2011)

Patrick Erling Dall Nygard, Norway (b.2011)

Olimpia Pelletier, Italy (b.2011)

Isaiah Shin, US (b.2014)

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