The finalists are Jane Hyeonjin Cho and Dayoon You of South Korea, Japan's Hina Maeda, China's Qingzhu Weng, Kazachstan's Meruert Karmenova, and Hana Chang, who represents Japan, Singapore and the United States.
In the final stage, which begins on Tuesday, they will perform two concertos of their own choice, one of Wieniawski’s two concertos, and one of four violin concertos by Brahms, Beethoven, Dvorak and Mendelssohn.
They will be accompanied by the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra under Łukasz Borowicz.
An international jury chaired by French violin virtuoso and conductor Augustin will announce its verdict on October 21.
The top prizewinner will receive a cash prize of EUR 50,000.
Photo: PAP/Jakub Kaczmarczyk
Held for the first time in Warsaw in 1935, the Wieniawski Competition is the world’s oldest violin competition. It moved to Poznań after a lapse of 17 years and has been held in that city since 1952. This year it is being held for the 16th time.
Past prizewinners include Ginette Neveu, David Oistrakh, Ida Haendel, Grażyna Bacewicz, Bartłomiej Nizioł, Piotr Pławner and Agata Szymczewska.
Henry Wieniawski was a child prodigy who entered the Paris Conservatory at the age of eight. He is regarded as one of the greatest violinists after Paganini.
He died in 1880, at the age of 45. His compositional output includes two violin concertos, mazurkas, polonaises, etudes and caprices.
Henryk Wieniawski. Image: FBC/Public Domain
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