The Paganini Competition (or Premio Paganini or Paganini Concore) is an international violin competition named after the famed virtuoso and founder of contemporary violin technique Niccolò Paganini. Created in 1954 it has been carried out ever since in the months of September and October. The "Paganini Competition" is one of the most important violin competitions. It is held every two years at "Carlo Felice" theatre in Genoa, Italy. There are three levels of competition: preliminaries, semi-finals, and finals and repertoire that is played includes solo violin, violin and piano accompaniment, and violin and orchestra.
Participants are of all nationalities and are under 34 years of age.
Preliminaries: Preliminary repertoire includes two selections for solo violin or violin and piano accompaniment and two Caprices from Paganini's 24 Caprices, Op.1 M.S. 25 for solo violin.
Semi-Finals: Three or four selections for solo violin or violin and piano, one virtuoso piece by Paganini, and one contemporary piece.
Finals: Two pieces with orchestra that may be a whole concerto or part of a concerto. One of the two pieces is always by Paganini.
There are eight judges. They are all musicians, usually violinists, but sometimes composers, conductors, or other musicians.
Six musicians place, though occasionally seven have been awarded the prize. Since 1989 special placement has been awarded. It is no longer possible to be joint winners. The player selected by the judges, however, will be given the honor of playing one of Paganini's violins and is often offered recording contracts.
| Year | Winner | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1956 | György Pauk | Hungary |
| Gerard Poulet | France | |
| 1958 | Salvatore Accardo | Italy |
| 1959 | Stuart Canin | United States |
| 1961 | Emil Kamilarov | Bulgaria |
| 1962 | Maryvonne The Dizes | France |
| 1963 | Oleh Krysa | Soviet Union |
| 1964 | Jean-Jacques Kantorow | France |
| 1965 | Viktor Pikaizen | Soviet Union |
| 1967 | Grigori Zhislin | Soviet Union |
| 1968 | Miriam Fried | Israel |
| 1969 | Gidon Kremer | Soviet Union |
| 1971 | Mose Sekler | Soviet Union |
| 1972 | Eugene Fodor | United States |
| 1973 | Alexander Kramarov | Soviet Union |
| 1975 | Yuri Korchinski | Soviet Union |
| 1976 | Lenuţa Ciulei | Romania |
| 1977 | Ilya Grubert | Soviet Union |
| 1978 | Eugen Sârbu | Romania |
| 1979 | Florin Paul | Romania |
| 1981 | Ilya Kaler | Soviet Union |
| 1985 | Dmitri Berlinsky | Soviet Union |
| 1987 | Lu Siqing | China |
| 1988 | Leonidas Kavakos | Greece |
| 1989 | Vasko Vasilev | Bulgaria |
| 1990 | Natalia Prischepenko | Soviet Union |
| 1991 | Massimo Quarta | Italy |
| 1992 | Julia Krasko | Russia |
| 1993 | Isabelle Faust | Germany |
| 1994 | Bin Huang | China |
| 1996 | Soovin Kim | United States |
| 1997 | Giovanni Angeleri | Italy |
| 1998 | Ilya Gringolts | Russia |
| 1999 | Sayaka Shoji | Japan |
| 2000 | Natalia Lomeiko | New Zealand/ Russia |
| 2001 | Mariusz Patyra | Poland |
| 2002 | Mengla Huang | China |
| 2006 | Feng Ning | China |
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Giovanni Angeleri (Italy) 7 prizes Eijin Nimura (Japan) 5 prizes Yuki Manuela Janke (Germania/Japan) 4 prizes Jean-Pierre Wallez (France) 4 prizes Ilya Gringolts (Russia) 3 prizes Mengla Huang (China) 3 prizes Stephanie Jeong (USA) 3 prizes Feng Ning (China) 3 prizes Mariusz Patyra (Poland) 3 prizes Gabriele Pieranunzi (Italy) 3 prizes Sayaka Shoji (Japan) 3 prizes Reiko Watanabe (Japan) 3 prizes
not assigned
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: not assigned
3rd Prize: Luciano Vicari (Italy)
4th Prize : Liliane Beretti (France) and Jean Louis Stunrop (Netherlands)
1st Prize : György Pauk (Hungary) and Gerard Poulet (France)
2nd Prize: not assigned
3rd Prize: not assigned
4th Prize : Carmencita Lozada (Philippine), Luciano Vicari (Italy) and Jean-Pierre
Wallez (France)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize : Salvatore Accardo (Italy) and Pierre Doukan (France)
4th Prize: Jean-Pierre Wallez (France)
5th Prize: not assigned
6th Prize: not assigned
1st Prize: Salvatore Accardo (Italy)
2nd Prize: Jean-Pierre Wallez (France)
3rd Prize: not assigned
4th Prize: not assigned
5th Prize: not assigned
6th Prize: not assigned
1st Prize: Stuart Canin (USA)
2nd Prize: Sigfried Gawriloff (Germany)
3rd Prize: Liliane Caillon (France)
4th Prize: Catherine Courtois (France)
5th Prize: Eleonora Of The Aquila (Italy)
6th Prize: Johannes BrÜning (Germany)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize : Jean-Pierre Wallez (France) and Yossef Zivoni (Israel)
4th Prize: Gigino Maestri (Italy)
5th Prize: not assigned
6th Prize: Josef Sivo (Austria)
1st Prize: Emil Kamilarov (Bulgaria) (BG:Емил Камиларов)
2nd Prize : Elaine Skorodin (USA) and Carmencita Lozada (Philippines)
4th Prize : Bice Antonioni (Italy) and Paulette Bedin (France)
6th Prize: not assigned
1st Prize: Maryvonne The Dizes (France)
2nd Prize: Etsuko Hirose (Japan)
3rd Prize: Liliane Caillon (France)
4th Prize: Marilyn Dubow (USA)
5th Prize: not assigned
6th Prize: not assigned
1st Prize: Oleh Krysa (Ukraine)
2nd Prize: Valentin Zuk (USSR)
3rd Prize: Shizuko Ishii (Japan)
4th Prize: Paul Zukofsky (USA)
5th Prize: Diana Cummings (Great Britain)
6th Prize: Igor Politkovsky (USSR)
1st Prize: Jean-Jacques Kantorow (France)
2nd Prize : Pierre Amoyal (France) and Yoko Koubo (Japan)
4th Prize : Hisako Tokue (Japan) and Tomotada Soh (Japan)
6th Prize: Antoine Goulard (France)
1st Prize: Viktor Pikaizen (USSR)
2nd Prize: Philippe Hirschhorn (USSR)
3rd Prize: Andrei Korsakov (USSR)
4th Prize: Yoko Kubo (Japan)
5th Prize : Elisabeth Balmas (France), Joshua Epstein (Israel) and Jacques Israelievitch (France)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Robert Menga (USA)
3rd Prize: Isako Shinozaki (Japan)
4th Prize: not assigned
5th Prize : Nicolai Marangosof (Bulgaria) and Kineko Okumura (Japan)
1st Prize: Grigori Zhislin (USSR)
2nd Prize: Vladimir Spivakov (USSR)
3rd Prize: Patrice Fontanarosa (France)
4th Prize: Petar Delcev (Bulgaria)
5th Prize: Sergio Diacenko (USSR)
6th Prize: Mikhail Gantwarg (USSR)
1st Prize: Miriam Fried (Israel)
2nd Prize: Hamao Fujiwara (Japan)
3rd Prize: Gabriella Ijac (Romania)
4th Prize: Petar Delcev (Bulgaria)
5th Prize: Masako Yanagita (Japan)
6th Prize: Emmanuel Krivine (France)
1st Prize: Gidon Kremer (USSR)
2nd Prize: Kathleen Lenski (USA)
3rd Prize: Joshua Epstein (Israel)
4th Prize: Isidora Schwarzberg (USSR)
5th Prize: Sergey Kravchenko (USSR)
6th Prize: Josef Rissin (USSR)
7th Prize: Adam Korniszewski (Poland)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Mintcho Mintchev (Bulgaria)
3rd Prize : Thomas Goldschmidt Egel (Germany) and Michał Grabarczyk (Poland)
5th Prize: Adam Korniszewski (Poland)
6th Prize: Keiko Wataya (Japan)
1st Prize: Mose Sekler (USSR)
2nd Prize: Bogodar Kotorovych (Ukraine)
3rd Prize: Roswitha Randacher (Austria)
4th Prize: Tadeusz Gadzina (Poland)
5th Prize: Elvira Nakipbecova (USSR)
6th Prize: Maria Balint (Hungary)
1st Prize: Eugene Fodor (USA)
2nd Prize: Yoko Sato (Japan)
3rd Prize: Gerald Ribeiro (Portugal)
4th Prize: Georgi Tilev (Bulgaria)
5th Prize: Teresa Glabowna (Poland)
6th Prize: not assigned
1st Prize: Alexander Kramarov (USSR)
2nd Prize: Yuval Yaron (Israel)
3rd Prize: Vania Milanova (Bulgaria)
4th Prize: Sungil Lee (Korea)
5th Prize: Giuliano Carmignola (Italy) and Stefan Stalanowski (Poland)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize : Lynn Chang (USA) and Eugen Sârbu (Romania)
4th Prize: Rasma Lielmane (Mexico)
5th Prize: Josif Rissin (Israel)
6th Prize: Jean-Claude Velin (France)
7th Prize: Marie-France Pouillot (France)
1st Prize: Yuri Korchinski (USSR)
2nd Prize: Petru Csaba (Romania)
3rd Prize: not assigned
4th Prize: not assigned
5th Prize: not assigned
6th Prize : Mark Fornaciari (Italy) and Anna Aleksandra Wodka (Poland)
1st Prize: Lenuţa Ciulei (Romania)
2nd Prize: Karen Eley (USA)
3rd Prize: Vladimir Nemţeanu (Romania)
4th Prize: Fudeco Takahashi (Japan)
5th Prize: Joanna Madroszkiewicz (Poland)
6th Prize: not assigned
1st Prize: Ilya Grubert (USSR)
2nd Prize: Sachiko Nakajima (Japan)
3rd Prize: Yumi Mohri (Japan)
4th Prize: Edward Zienkowski (Poland)
5th Prize: Alexei Tawny (USSR)
6th Prize: Ola Rudner (Sweden)
1st Prize: Eugen Sârbu (Romania)
2nd Prize : Karen Eley (USA) and Piotr Milewski (Poland)
4th Prize: Takashi Shimitzu (Japan)
5th Prize: Berthilde Dufour (France)
6th Prize: Daniel Stabrawa (Poland)
1st Prize: Florin Paul (Romania)
2nd Prize: Yuriko Naganuma (Japan)
3rd Prize: Alexis Galperine (France)
4th Prize: Mariko Senju (Japan)
5th Prize: Rodolfo Bonucci (Italy)
6th Prize: not assigned
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Niculae Tudor (Romania)
3rd Prize: Sonig Tchakerian (Italy)
4th Prize: Eduard Wulfson (Latvia)
5th Prize: Mitsuko Ishii (Japan)
6th Prize : Daniel Stabrawa (Poland) and Walter Bertrand (France)
1st Prize: Ilja Kaler (USSR)
2nd Prize: Leonid Sorokov (USSR)
3rd Prize: Frank Almond (USA)
4th Prize: Kuniko Nagata (Japan)
5th Prize: Mircea Călin http://www.mirceacalin.com (Romania)
6th Prize: Francine Trachier (France)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize : Alexander Markov (USA) and Boris Garlitsky (USSR)
3rd Prize: Sonoko Numata (Japan)
4th Prize : Philippe Djokic (Canada), Maxim Fedotov (USSR) and Hiroko Suzuki (Japan)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Laurent Korcia (France)
3rd Prize: Sung-Sic Yang (Korea)
4th Prize: Reiko Watanabe (Japan)
5th Prize: Boris Schmitz (Germany)
6th Prize : Soo-Ik Lee (Korea) and Kazimierz Olechowski (Poland)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Vadim Brodski (USSR)
3rd Prize: Reiko Watanabe (Japan)
4th Prize: Elisa Kawaguti (Japan)
5th Prize: Stéphane Tran Ngoc (France)
6th Prize: not assigned
1st Prize: Dmitri Berlinski (USSR)
2nd Prize: Mark Moghilevski (USSR)
3rd Prize: Gabriel Croitoru (Romania)
4th Prize : Anguelina Abadjieva (Bulgaria) and Anton Kolodenko (USSR)
6th Prize: Thomas Böttcher (East Germany)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Reiko Watanabe (Japan)
3rd Prize: Yuri Braginski (Belgium)
4th Prize: Andreas Krecher (Germany)
5th Prize: Akiko Ueda (Japan)
6th Prize: Jeanne-Marie Conquer (France)
1st Prize: Lu Siqing (China)
2nd Prize: Pavel Berman (USSR)
3rd Prize: Alexei Koshvanets (USSR)
4th Prize : Adam Taubic (Poland) and From Bologna Vincenzo (Italy)
6th Prize: Viktor Kuznetsov (USSR)
1st Prize: Leonidas Kavakos (Greece)
2nd Prize: Akiko Suwanai (Japan)
3rd Prize: Eijin Nimura (Japan)
4th Prize: Gabriele Pieranunzi (Italy)
5th Prize: Pavel Pekarski (USA)
6th Prize: Ara Malikian (Lebanon/Spain)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Vasko Vassilev (Bulgaria)
3rd Prize: Oleg Pokhanovski (USSR)
4th Prize: Anastasia Chebotarova (USSR)
5th Prize: Tomoko Kawada (Japan)
6th Prize : Ilja Sekler (USSR) and Eijin Nimura (Japan)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Luca Fanfoni (Italy)
1st Prize: Natalia Prischepenko (USSR)
2nd Prize: Chin Kim (USA)
3rd Prize: Gabriele Pieranunzi (Italy)
4th Prize: Graf Mourja (USSR)
5th Prize: Roberto Cani (Italy)
6th Prize: Alexander Trostianski (USSR)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Gabriele Pieranunzi
1st Prize: Massimo Quarta (Italy)
2nd Prize: Florin Croitoru (Romania)
3rd Prize : Nicolas Gourbeix (France) and Misha Keylin (USA)
5th Prize: Yumi Makita (Japan)
6th Prize: Ko-Woon Yang (Korea)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Massimo Quarta
1st Prize: Julia Krasko (Russia)
2nd Prize: Michiko Kamiya (Japan)
3rd Prize: Eijin Nimura (Japan)
4th Prize : Giovanni Angeleri (Italy) and Karen Lee (USA)
5th Prize: Ara Malikian (Armenia)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Giovanni Angeleri
1st Prize: Isabelle Faust (Germany)
2nd Prize: Stefan Milenkovic (Serbia)
3rd Prize: Yuka Eguchi (Japan)
4th Prize: Florin Ionescu-Galaţi (Romania)
5th Prize: Eijin Nimura (Japan)
6th Prize: Giovanni Angeleri (Italy)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Giovanni Angeleri
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Rachel Barton (USA)
1st Prize: Bin Huang (China)
2nd Prize: Eijin Nimura (Japan)
3rd Prize: Dmitri Makhtine (Russia)
4th Prize: Stefan Milenković (Serbia)
5th Prize: Giovanni Angeleri (Italy)
6th Prize: Giacobbe Stevanato (Italy)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Giovanni Angeleri
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Bin Huang
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Aki Sunahara (Japan) and Giordan Nikolitch (Slovenia)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Alexandru Tomescu (Romania)
3rd Prize: Oleg Pokhanovski (Russia)
4th Prize: Leor Maltinski (Israel)
5th Prize: Stefan Schramm (Germany)
6th Prize: Antonello Manacorda (Italy)
Special prize of the Giuria: Anastasia Khitruk (USA)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Leor Maltinski
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: not assigned
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Stefan Schramm
1st Prize: Soovin Kim (USA)
2nd Prize: Andrew Haveron (Great Britain)
3rd Prize: Ju-Young Baek (Korea)
4th Prize: Sergei Levitin (Russia)
5th Prize: Florin Croitoru (Romania)
6th Prize: Jasmine Lin (USA)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Soovin Kim
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Sergei Levitin
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Andrew Haveron
1st Prize: Giovanni Angeleri (Italy)
2nd Prize: Rodion Petrov (Russia)
3rd Prize: Judith Ingolfsson (Iceland)
4th Prize: Kyoko Yonemoto (Japan)
5th Prize: Hanako Uesato (Japan)
6th Prize: Maki Nagata (Japan)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Kyoko Yonemoto
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Rodion Petrov
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Laura Andriani (Italy)
1st Prize: Ilya Gringolts (Russia)
2nd Prize: Baiba Skride (Latvia)
3rd Prize: Takako Yamasaki (Japan)
4th Prize: Michael Vitenson (Israel)
5th Prize: Anton Polezhayev (USA)
6th Prize: Maki Itoi (Japan)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Ilya Gringolts
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Maciko Shimada (Japan)
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Ilya Gringolts
1st Prize: Sayaka Shoji (Japan)
2nd Prize: Frank Huang (China)
3rd Prize: Akiko Ono (Japan)
4th Prize: Weiyi Wang (China)
5th Prize: Emil Chudnovsky (USA)
6th Prize: Gabriel Adorjan (Denmark)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Sayaka Shoji
Prize in memory of Mario Ruminelli: Sayaka Shoji
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Francesco Manara (Italy)
1st Prize: Natalia Lomeiko (New Zelanda/Russia)
2nd Prize: Sayako Kusaka (Japan)
3rd Prize : Karin Ato (Japan) and Vadim Tchijik (Russia)
5th Prize: Sophie Moser (Germany)
6th Prize: Myroslava Ivanchenko (Ukraine)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Sophie Moser
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Sayako Kusaka
Prize in memory of the Mario Ruminelli: Natalia Lomeiko
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Vadim Tchijik
1st Prize: Mariusz Patyra (Poland)
2nd Prize: Minjae Kim (South Korea)
3rd Prize: Tanja Becker-Bender (Germany)
4th Prize: Jack Liebeck (Great Britain)
5th Prize: A-Rah Shin (South Korea)
6th Prize: Gyula Vadászi (Hungary)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: A-Rah Shin
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Mariusz Patyra
Prize in memory of the Mario Ruminelli: Mariusz Patyra
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Tanja Becker-Bender
1st Prize: Mengla Huang (China)
2nd Prize: Maxim Brylinski (Ukraine)
3rd Prize: Daniel Roehn (Germany-Sweden)
4th Prize : Emil Chudnovski (USA) and Giulio Plotino (Italy)
6th Prize: Kyoko Une (Japan)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Maxim Brylinski
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Mengla Huang
Prize in memory of the Mario Ruminelli: Mengla Huang
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Alexis Cardenas (Venezuela)
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Yuki Manuela Janke (Germany/Japan)
3rd Prize: Hyun On Shin (South Korea)
4th Prize: Dalibor Karvay (Slovakia)
5th Prize: Bracha Malkin (USA/Israel)
6th Prize: Diego Tosi (France)
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Alicia N Evans
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Alicia N Evans
Prize in memory of the Mario Ruminelli: Yuki Manuela Janke
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Yuki Manuela Janke
1st Prize: Feng Ning (China)
2nd Prize: Yura Lee (South Korea)
3rd Prize: Rika Masato (Japan)
Finalists:
Hyun Joo Choo (South Korea)
Bo-Kyung Lee (South Korea)
Sergey Malov (Russia)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Hyun Joo Choo
Prize in memory of the Renato De Barbeiri: Feng Ning
Prize in memory of Mario Ruminelli: Sergey Malov
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Feng Ning
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Stephanie Jeong (USA)
3rd Prize: Sean Lee (USA)
Finalists:
Francesca Dego (Italy)
Evgeny Sviridov (Russia)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Francesca Dego
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Evgeny Sviridov
Friends of Paganini Association Prize: Stephanie Jeong
Prize in memory of Mario Ruminelli: Stephanie Jeong
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Evgeny Sviridov
1st Prize: not assigned
2nd Prize: Dami Kim (South Korea)
3rd Prize: Stefan Tarara (Germany)
Finalists:
Yu-Chien Tseng (Taiwan)
Fedor Roudine (France)
Prize in memory of Dr. Enrico Costa: Yu-Chien Tseng
Friends of Paganini Association Prize: Yu-Chien Tseng
Prize in memory of Mario Ruminelli: Dami Kim
Prize in memory of Renato De Barbieri: Dami Kim
Friends of the Nuovo Carlo Felice Association prize: Stefan Tarara