Competitors announced for the Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition

The Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition will be held in Vienna from 17 to 25 September 2022.

After a pre-selection round consisting of several video submissions, the jury has picked 50 violinists to compete for the top prize of €20,000, concert engagements and a recording deal.

The competitors are: 

1. Lidamari Ahonen, 19, Finland 

2. Maria Andreeva, 21, Russia

3. Yurina Arai, 27, Japan

4. Ava Bahari, 25, Sweden 

5. Kristina Besman, 27, Russia

6. Claire Bourg, 27, USA

7. Zachary Brandon, 23, USA

8. Tong Chen, 24, China

9. Elli Choi, 20, USA

10. Wonbeen Chung, 24, South Korea

11. Fanny Fheodoroff, 25, Austria

12. Murasaki Fukuda, 25, Japan

13. Laura Handler, 23, Germany 

14. Kingston Ho, 21, USA

15. Luka Ispir, 23, France 

16. Miray Ito, 19, USA

17. Gyehee Kim, 28, South Korea

18. Daniel Kogan, 29, Canada 

19. Anna Lee, 26, USA

20. Catherine Lee, 25, Australia 

21. Jiyoon Lee, 23, South Korea

22. Miyeon Lee, 28, South Korea 

23. Tianyou Ma, 21, China 

24. Eri Masaoka, 29, Japan 

25. Seina Matsuoka, 28, Japan 

26. Jason Moon, 22, USA

27. Raphael Nussbaumer, 16, Switzerland

28. Yukari Ohno, 27, Japan 

29. Kyumin Park, 25, South Korea

30. Lilia Pocitari, 24, Moldova

31. Yamen Saadi, 25, Israel 

32. Aoi Saito, 24, Japan 

33. Reika Sakamoto, 24, Japan 

34. Guido Sant’Anna e Silva, 16, Brazil 

35. Antonia Schöner, 26, Austria

36. Tomotaka Seki, 23, Japan

37. Lisa-Maria Sekine, 26, Austria 

38. Dimitry Serebrennikov, 30, Russia

39. Michael Shaham, 18, Israel 

40. Dongyong Jake Shim, 20, South Korea 

41. Arseniya Sibileva, 21, Russia 

42. Belle Ting, 22, Canada 

43. Julian Walder, 21, Austria 

44. Xiaozhuo Wang, 15, China

45. Jaewon Wee, 22, South Korea

46. Rino Yoshimoto, 19, Japan

47. Arata Yumi, 30, Japan

48. Rok Zaeletel Cernos, 23, Slovenia

49. Galiya Zharova, 30, Russia

50. Leonid Zhelezny, 28, Russia 

The 50 competitors will compete on 17-19 September with 18 of them continuing to the semi-finals on 20-22 September. The first round of the finals will see six finalists perform on the 23 September. The gala finals, with the last three competitors, will be held on 25 September accompanied by the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Alexander Joel. 

The first prize winner will receive concert engagements including performances with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra, Nizhny Novgorod State Philharmonic, and the Orchestra Sinfonica Siciliana. They will also receive a CD recording on Naxos, a tour of Asia in May 2023 with World Culture Networks (WNC).

All six finalists will receive prize money of €20,000, €15,000, €10,000, €7,000, €6,000, €5,000 respectively. 

Held every four to five years, the Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition has been running since 1979. Previous winners include Dimitri Sitkovetsky, Milan Al-Ashhab, Jan Mracek and Nikita Boriso-Glebsky.