Ilona Fehér International Violin Competition Announces Candidates

The competition will take place from July 4- 14, 2024, in Budapest

Open to violinists under 22, the Ilona Fehér International Violin Competition was founded in 2017 by Hungarian violinists Katalin Kokas and Barnabás Kelemen, artistic directors and founder of the Festival Academy Budapest. Held at the Liszt Academy in Budapest, the competition is held for two age groups: Group 1 for those under 15 and Group 2 for ages 15-22.

The President of the Jury is Shlomo Mintz, a former student of the legendary Hungarian-Israeli violin teacher, Ilona Fehér. Alongside him, the jury comprises Alissa Margulis, Andreas Vierziger, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Dora Schwarzberg, Keller András, Magdalena Ursu, Pauk György, Peter Herresthal, Qian Zhou, and Kelemen Barnabás.

Masterclasses led by jury members form an integral part of the competition, and the contestants may also attend the rehearsals and concerts of the 9th Festival Academy Budapest 2024 — which starts on July 14 after the violin competition.

Competing for a prize pool of €10,000, this year's candidates are as follows.

Age Group 1 

• Ma Panxi
• Kimia CORKE
• Hana Hoshino
• Kaltrina Kaçiu
• LIN Xi
• ZHANG Jinger
• Ziyue Duan
• Constantin Stefan Cristian
• Sheng Fangyuan
• Gábor Ferenc Nagy
• Xinru Lai
• Kai Gergov

Age Group 2

• Tsao Wei Chun
• Zixuan Shen
• Salvatore Di Lorenzo
• Cibotaru Elizaveta
• Maksym Synytskyi
• Renei Tang
• Iryna Borysova
• Chien Hsin
• Tsao Wei Chun
• Sofiia Plakhtsinska
• Cheng-Yi Syu
• Henry Jin Quan
• ENPEI ZHU
• Julia Raphaela Kasprzak
• Natalia Wojciechowska
• Kovács Zsolt
• Xinrui Xie
• NATHAN lAU
• Jovana Udovic
• Jovana Savić
• Marianna Pazhik
• Székely Anna Lilla
• Leonhard Baumgartner
• Ina Park
• Ruiying Lin
• Flavia Jace
• Hsiao Toa-Yuan
• Natalia Szymczyk

Cofounders Barnabás Kelemen and Katalin Kokas said, "If we take a look at the rich and colorful tradition of violin playing, with performers like Joseph Joachim, Carl Flesch, Ede Reményi, Leopold Auer, Jenő Hubay and all the other Hungarian legends, including Ilona Fehér, the different schools from Israel to Russia and Germany and, of course, Hungary, we feel the challenge and beauty of the past, and we are happy to preserve it and pass it on to younger generations."

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