Preparations for the inaugural edition of the Classic Violin Olympus International Competition are well underway, with hundreds of international applications looking to participate in one of the six preselection contests that will be held throughout 2024.

Each application is being vetted by the organizing committee, headed by Artistic Director Pavel Vernikov, with a maximum of 20 candidates being allowed to proceed to the live contests.

Last month, the registration period ended for the Tokyo Classic Violin Competition – the first entry in the preliminary series. The competition has announced the 20 successful applicants who shall compete at the Geidai (Tokyo University of the Arts) from March 17-21, 2024. 

The participants are:

• Andrey Baranov
• JungMin Choi
• Beatrice Colombis
• Bobirjon Eshpulatov
• Seira Horiuchi
• Yiying Jiang
• Mei Kaneko
• Eugene Kawai
• Haewon Lim
• Yu Wen Lu
• Shotaro Matsuki
• Zhiyuan Qian
• Xingzhou Rong
• Kaho Takemoto
• Rina Tanaka
• Yukiko Uno
• Soyoung Yoon
• Kaoruko Yoshida
• Meng Zou
• Haoya Zhang

Once in Tokyo, these violinists will be taking to the stage in front of a 5-person jury board, as they challenge each other for a €35,000 prize fund, as well as the chance to win entry to the invite-only Classic Violin Olympus, which will be held in Dubai, UAE, from April 22-28, 2025, and will feature €310,000 worth of monetary prizes in addition to other awards and opportunities for all finalists.

Speaking about the shortlisting process, Mr. Vernikov noted that “the overwhelming number of applications exceeded our expectations, making the selection process for the Tokyo Classic Violin Competition a challenging task. The level of proficiency displayed by all violinists was truly exceptional, and we truly wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude to each applicant for showcasing their remarkable talent and unwavering passion for music. To have made it this far stands as a testament to their dedication and exceptional performances, and we now look forward to seeing more of these amazing artists in Tokyo this coming March!”

In addition, organizers also released the names of four participants, who are being offered a position as reserves. This is in the event that any of the initial 20 participants are unable to partake in the Tokyo competition:

• Xin Quan
• Zixuan Shen
• Roni Shitrit
• Aozhe Zhang

Following this announcement, the next set of participants who are expected to be announced will be for the Vienna Classic Violin Competition, with the registration period for this second preselection contest having come to a close as well.

Applications for the contests in New York, London, Rome, and Tel Aviv are still open, however, so if you have not yet sent in your audition recording, make sure to act now before it is too late!

For more information about Classic Violin Olympus and its preselection contests, please visit the official website here.