The violinists, aged 14 to 18, are currently competing for a grand prize of $20,000

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The Thomas & Evon Cooper International Competition, held annually at the Oberlin College, Ohio and alternating between piano and violin, has this year welcomed 23 young violinists to its semi-final round.

Ten will proceed to the concerto round taking place on Tuesday 18 July, six will go on to the recitals finals on 19 July, and the final three will battle it out on Friday 21 July performing a complete concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra under conductor Jahja Ling. The recitals finals round (7pm EDT, 11pm GMT) and grand concerto final (7.30pm EDT) will be broadcast live on WCLV 104.9 FM and streamed on the competition’s homepage.

The Cooper International Competition, presented jointly by the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the Cleveland Orchestra, began life as the Oberlin International Festival in 1985 and after a brief hiatus returned in 2010 sponsored by Thomas and Evon Cooper.

It has recently doubled its prize pot to $40,000, of which $20,000 goes to the winner, $10,000 to second place and $5,000 to third, with $1,500 each for fourth to sixth positions, plus a $500 audience prize.

The competition participants are: Zachary Brandon, 18 (US) and Maya Anjali Buchanan, 17 (US) who both also took part in the 2015 competition with Buchanan placing sixth, plus

Dorson Chang, 16 (Taiwan)
Qing Yu Chen, 17 (US)Bo Cui, 16 (China)
Johan Dalene, 16 (Sweden)
Lingyu Dong, 16 (China)
Kejun Guo, 18 (China)Oda Holt Günther, 18 (Norway)
Joseph Hsia, 16 (US)
Woojin Lyu, 18 (South Korea)
Mai Matsumoto, 16 (Japan)
Coco Mi, 16 (US)
Christina Jihee Nam, 14 (US)
Kenta Nomura, 17 (Japan)
Kiarra Saito-Beckman, 18 (US)
Goeun Melody Sim, 18 (US)
Jonna Simonsson, 16 (Sweden)
Adrian Steele, 17 (US)
Jessie Tai, 18 (Taiwan)
Alexandra Woroniecka, 15 (US)
Megan Yao, 17 (Taiwan)
Yebin Yoo, 17 (Australia)

Previous winners of the competition include American violinist Sirena Huang, who took first prize at the Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition, as well as winning the New York Concert Artists worldwide debut audition earlier this year.

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