Sendai International Violin Competition 2016 names six finalists

The Sendai International Violin Competition in Japan has named the six performers, whittled down from 40 shortlisted candidates, who will compete in the finals on 2, 3 and 4 June for a top prize of JPY 3,000,000 ($26,000), concert performances and a CD recording.

Among the performers are a number of familiar names, including ; Anna Savkina, who won fourth prize at the 2013 Sendai International Violin Competition; 2014 International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition violin category winner Seiji Okamoto; 2014 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis finalist Yoo Jin Jang (pictured); and 2014 China International Violin Competition second place winner Naoka Aoki.

The competitors are:

Naoka Aoki, 23, Japan

Yoo Jin Jang, 25, Korea

Meruert Karmenova, 22, Kazakhstan

Stephen Kim, 20, USA

Seiji Okamoto, 21, Japan

Anna Savkina, 21, Russia

Each of the six violinists will perform two concertos in the final, including the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto.

This year’s jury, chaired by Yuzuko Horigome, includes vice chairpersons Masafumi Hori and Rodney Friend, in addition to Boris Belkin, Mauricio Fuks, Mengla Huang, Tomoko Kato, Younguck Kim, Gidon Kremer, Cho-Liang Lin, Régis Pasquier and Kyoko Takezawa.

Held every three years in piano and violin disciplines the competition is open to candidates of all nationalities up to the age of 28. Winner of the 2013 Sendai Violin Competition was Richard Lin.

For full details visit the Sendai International Music Competition website.