24 violinists will take to the stage at this year’s competition, taking place from 27 May to 4 June
The Concours Musical International de Montréal (CMIM) has announced its competitors for the 2026 edition, this year dedicated to the violin.
A total of 24 violinists between the ages of 16 and 30 have been selected by a preliminary jury, which comprised Timothy Chooi, Mengla Huang, Michiko Kamiya, Mayumi Seiler, Livia Sellin, and Guillaume Sutre.
Competitors will have a chance to win prizes and grants exceeding a total value of CAD150,000. First prize is endowed with a cash prize of CAD30,000, plus a career development prize of CAD40,000.
Second and third prize are worth CAD25,000 and CAD20,000 respectively, and numerous special prizes and performance engagements will also be awarded.
Lucie Robert will chair the competition jury, which will comprise Ju-Young Baek, Glenn Dicterow, Simin Ganatra, Yuzuko Horigome, Régis Pasquier, Barry Shiffman and Pavel Vernikov.
The competitors are:
Seoyeon Baik (South Korea, 18)
Thomas Briant (France, 24)
Bade Dastan (Belgium/Turkey, 18)
Laurel Gagnon (US, 30)
Michael Germer (Denmark, 23)
Yuki Hirano (Japan, 21)
Sara Isabelle Ispas (Australia/Romania, 22)
Amia Janicki (Austria/Switzerland, 28)
Lorenz Karls (Sweden, 24)
Sijun Kim (South Korea, 23)
Hyun Jae Lim (South Korea, 27)
Chiara Sannicandro (Germany/Italy, 28)
Tsukushi Sasaki (Japan, 25)
Justin Saulnier (Canada, 20)
Paloma So (Canada/Hong Kong, 20)
Charlotte Spruit (The Netherlands, 25)
Koshiro Takeuchi (Japan, 20)
Belle Ting (Canada, 25)
Sara Watanabe (Japan, 20)
Dayoon You (South Korea, 24)
Yume Zamponi (Italy/Japan, 20)
Aozhe Zhang (China, 17)
Shaoheng Zhong (China, 16)
CMIM has been held annually since its inception in 2002, rotating between disciplines of violin, piano and voice. The 2023 violin edition was won by Dmytro Udovychenko.
Read: Postcard from Montreal: Montreal International Music Competition
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