US violinist Elli Choi scooped the top prize of €20,000 and along with Ruifeng Lin, qualifies for the Classic Violin Olympus International Competition next year
The finals of the Dubai Classic Violin Competition were held from 1 to 5 November at the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management in Dubai, UAE. Ten selected violinists performed a recital of 30-40 minutes.
Following the finals, the jury awarded first prize of €20,000 to US violinist Elli Choi. Ruifeng Lin from China received second prize of €10,000, while Japanese violinist Issei Kurihara received third prize of €5,000.
23-year-old violinist Choi won second prize at Beijing’s Global Music Education League competition in 2023, as well as third prize at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition. She is currently studying economics-philosophy at Columbia University while simultaneously training at the Juilliard School. Her teachers have included Ida Kavafian, Joseph Lin and Li Lin.
Lin was the grand prizewinner at the 2023 Viktor Tretyakov International Violin Competition and reached the semi-finals of the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition. Kurihara won third prize at the Vladimir Spivakov International Violin Competition, as well as grand prizes at the Nałeczow and Gifu International violin competitions.
In addition to their monetary awards, Choi and Lin have qualified to participate in the Classic Violin Olympus International Competition, which will be held in Dubai from 22 to 28 April 2025. The top prize on offer will be €200,000, which will be pursued by the top two prizewinners from the competition’s five other preselection competitions, which took place this year in London, Rome, New York, Vienna and Tokyo.
The jury was chaired by Pavel Vernikov and comprised Eszter Haffner, Massimo Quarta, Itzhak Rashkovsky and Yamei Yu.
Read: Violinist María Dueñas to feature in new movie ‘Measures for a Funeral’
Read: Nine violinists progress to the IsangYun Violin Competition semi-finals
The number one source for playing and teaching books, guides, CDs, calendars and back issues of the magazine.
In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.
The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.
The Canada Council of the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank is 40 years old in 2025. This year’s calendar celebrates some its treasures, including four instruments by Antonio Stradivari and priceless works by Montagnana, Gagliano, Pressenda and David Tecchler.
No comments yet