13th International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition Concludes with a High-Level Final at Helsinki Music Centre

The finals of the 13th International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition took place in the Concert Hall of the Helsinki Music Centre from 27 to 29 May 2025. The six outstanding finalists were: Gabrielle Després, Otto Antikainen, Claire Wells, Minami Yoshida, Amia Janicki, and Sueye Park.

The jury announced the prize winners and recipients of the special prizes late on Thursday evening. The prizes were awarded as follows:

1st Prize €30,000: Sueye Park
2nd Prize €20,000: Minami Yoshida
3rd Prize €15,000: Claire Wells

The other three finalists each received a recognition prize of €3,000.

Best Performance of the Sibelius Violin Concerto (€3,000) – awarded by the Sibelius family: Minami Yoshida

Best Performance of the Commissioned Work (€2,000) – awarded by the Society of Finnish Composers: Amia Janicki

Instrument loan: A G.B. Guadagnini 1777 “ex Sasson” violin, provided for one year by Dr David Li through Beare’s International Violin Society: Sueye Park

Photo: Matias Ahonen.

Jury

The jury, chaired by conductor John Storgårds, included violinists Elise Båtnes, Levon Chilingirian, Jinjoo Cho, Sung-Ju Lee, Réka Szilvay, and conductor-violinist Jan Söderblom.