45 violinists will take part in this year’s competition in Helsinki this May, with the chance to win the top prize of €30,000, loan of a fine violin, plus future performance engagements and mentoring
45 violinists have been selected to take place in the 2025 International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, now in its eighth edition. The candidates were selected from 218 entries by the competition’s pre-selection jury comprising Jaako Ilves (chair), Cecilia Zilliacus and Petteri Iivonen.
The competition will start with an opening ceremony and draw on 17 May 2025. The first rounds of the competition will take place on 19-21 May and the semi-finals on 23-25 May at the Sibelius Academy Concert Hall. The final rounds will take place in Helsinki Music Centre on 27-29 May.
The prizes up for grabs include first prize of €30,000, second prize of €20,000 and third prize of €15,000. Three other finalists will receive €3,000 and all contestants who reach the second round will receive €1,000 from the Sibelius family.
The Finnish Composers will donate a special prize of €2,000 for the best performance of the 2025 competition’s commissioned work, The Seasons Remembered, by Outi Tarkiainen.
J&A Beare and the Beare’s International Violin Society will facilitate the loan of a fine violin to a candidate for one year, with possible extension.
Additionally, winning candidates will receive mentorship and future performance engagements.
This year’s competition jury will be chaired by conductor John Storgårds and comprises Elise Båtnes, Jan Söderblom, Jinjoo Cho, Levon Chilingirian, Liza Ferschtman, Réka Szilvay and Sung-Ju Lee.
The candidates are:
Otto Antikainen
Rio Arai
Karisa Chiu
Wonbeen Chung
Gabrielle Després
Hiu Sing Fan
Matthew Hakkarainen
Ria Honda
Adrian Ibañez-Resjan
Amia Janicki
Jueun Jeong
Nakyung Kang
Minchae Kim
Marika Konishi
Alice Lee
Anna Lee
Youjin Lee
Lina Leikola
Hyun Jae Lim
Yeji Lim
Charlie Lovell-Jones
Bohdan Luts
Hanna Park
Sueye Park
Lilia Pocitari
Aoi Saito
Jona Schibilsky
Jake Dongyoung Shim
Jiwoo Son
Charlotte Spruit
Leonard Toschev
Yukiko Uno
Marina Wako
Chenming Wang
Julia-Xiaozhuo Wang
Shihan Wang
Sara Watanabe
Jaewon Wee
Claire Wells
Qingzhu Weng
Esther Yang
Muyan Yang
Yebin Yoo
Minami Yoshida
Shaoheng Zhong
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