Founded in 1965, the International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition has established itself as one of the most prestigious music competitions in the world. The competition, which takes place every five years, is open to violinists under the age of 30. The 2025 competition will take place from May 18 to May 29, 2025.

Registration for the competition will open on December 17, 2024, and close on January 29, 2025. As with the Sibelius Competitions in the past, Helsinki is expected to attract the very best international young violinists.

Tickets for the event will also go on sale on December 17, 2024. Tickets can be purchased at the Musiikkitalo ticket office, on the website and from the call centre.

Renewed finals programme

The programme of the Sibelius Violin Competition’s final rounds has been significantly updated. In the final rounds, participants will play the Sibelius Violin Concerto, and one of four pre-selected concertos composed between 1994 and 2015 by Unsuk Chin, Oliver Knussen, Magnus Lindberg or Kaija Saariaho.

“In many major competitions, the final programme is very traditional. The most recent composers are often Stravinsky or Bartók,” says John Storgårds, chairman of the Sibelius Competition jury. He believes that the inclusion of contemporary music in the Finnish repertoire is very natural. “This competition is an excellent opportunity to turn this new page. It is also a good message from Finland to the world of music!”

Storgårds adds that preparing for the competition is an important opportunity for participants to add new works on their repertoire. “Every credible musician must be interested in the music of our time. It will be interesting to see which of the new concertos turns out to be the most popular!” Contemporary music will also be heard in the semi-finals of the competition, where the mandatory piece is a work commissioned from Outi Tarkiainen by the Sibelius Violin Competition.

The final rounds will be played with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Pekka Kuusisto and the Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dima Slobodeniouk.

The International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition has in total three rounds. The first and second rounds will be played at the Sibelius Academy Concert Hall (Pohjoinen Rautatienkatu 9), and the final rounds at the Helsinki Music Centre Concert Hall.

The nine-member jury consists of violinist Elise Båtnes, violinist-conductor Jan Söderblom, violinist-conductor Jean-Jacques Kantorow, violinist Jinjoo Cho, violinist Levon Chilingirian, violinist Liza Ferschtman, violin professor Réka Szilvay and violinist Sung-Ju Lee. The jury will be chaired by conductor John Storgårds.