Chicago Violin Competition announces 2022 winners and laureates

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After three weeks of online deliberation, the Chicago Violin Competition has announced its winners and laureates for the Senior Artist and Young Artist divisions for 2022. 

18-year-old US violinist Brandon Du won first prize worth $5,000 in the Senior Artist division, open to violinists aged 18 to 28,. Second prize of $3,000 went to 23-year-old Carlos Martinez Arroyo from Spain, while third prize of $1,500 went to 22-year-old Xiang Han from China. The Senior laureates named were US violinists Oliver Neubauer, Julia Jones and South Korean violinist Jihyun Baik.

First prize winner Du was a semifinalist at the 2022 Cooper International Violin Competition, a 2021 National YoungArts winner, and an alternate semifinalist at the Stulberg International String Competition. In 2019, he was a quarterfinalist in the third Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians.

The Young Artist division is open to violinists aged 7 to 17. First prize of $3,000 went to 17-year-old Venezualan violinist Gustavo Guanipa Gil, a student of Christoph Poppen at the Reina Sofia School of Music. Second prize of $2,000 went to 17-year-old Chinese violinist Dindin Jingyi Wang and third prize worth $1,000 went to 15-year-old Australian violinist Isabella Sun. The Young laureates named were US violinists Elizabeth Song and Natalie Oh, and Jiwoo Son from South Korea.

Each competitor submitted a video recording of chosen pieces from a prescribed list of concerto and showpiece repertoire. The jury comprised Juliana Athayde, Dr. Orieta Dado, Ariana Kim, Yang Liu and Robert Simonds.

The Chicago Violin Competition has been held annually since 2014. Its next edition will be held on 19 November 2023, with online applications due 30 October 2023. The 2021 competition first prize winners were Jesus Linarez and Kento Hong.