The XII International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition held in Helsinki 19–29 May saw exceptional performances by young violin virtuosos. The competition, held in the Sibelius Academy R building and Helsinki Music Centre, was followed by an unprecedentedly large audience: the webcasts have been viewed on Yle Areena more than 2 million times worldwide.
In the finals at the Helsinki Music Centre, six future star soloists presented their skills on stage: Diana Adamyan(AM), Yesong Sophie Lee (US), Nathan Meltzer (US), Georgii Moroz (UA), Dmitry Udovychenko (UA) and Inmo Yang (KR). On Sunday evening 29 May, with the lead of Chair of the Jury Sakari Oramo, Inmo Yang was declared the winner of the competition. Second place was awarded to Nathan Meltzer and third place to Dmytro Udovychenko.
The winner of the competition, Inmo Yang, received a cash prize of 30,000 euros, a mentoring prize from Pekka Kuusisto and Sakari Oramo, and a product prize sponsored by Genelec Oy. For the first time in the competition, the winner was also awarded with an NFT trophy by Yle Innovations in cooperation with the violin competition.
Nathan Meltzer, who was awarded second place in the competition, received a cash prize of 20,000 euros and a product prize from Genelec Oy. Dmytro Udovychenko, who was awarded third place, received a cash prize of 15,000 euros. The other three finalists were awarded a 3,000 euro recognition prize and all competitors who made it to the semi-finals were awarded the Sibelius stipend of 1,000 euros. The Sibelius family awarded Inmo Yang a prize of 2,000 € for the best performance of Magnus Lindberg’s commissioned work “Caprice”.
In addition, Inmo Yang was rewarded with a loan of a fine violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini from Turin dated 1772, kindly loaned by Jane Ng through J & A Beare and the Beare’s International Violin Society. The award was presented by So-Ock Kim of Beares International Violin Society.
The International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition is one of the oldest and most prestigious violin competitions in the world. A record 240 violinists applied for the competition this year, 39 of whom participated in the competition. The next International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition will be held in 2025.
