Let the competition begin!

We are thrilled to announce that twelve outstanding young violinists have been selected to compete in Italy this coming July to make their “magic violins” resonate in San Vito al Tagliamento.

As a reminder, the fifth edition of the Tibor Junior International Violin Competition will take place from July 1 to 4, 2026, in San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy. The competition is open to violinists aged between 14 and 17.

This year, the competition will be held under the auspices of the Piccolo Violino Magico Competition and its director, Domenico Mason.

The selected candidates for the 2026 edition are:

• Irene Arriaza
• Yeeyeung Chen
• Natalia Dragan
• Kai Gergov
• Yunduo Li
• Jayda Lu
• Patrick Nygard
• Shuki Ohara
• Baiyi Tao
• Giovanni Viola
• Kexin Zhang
• Lana Zorjan

The second round will take place in San Vito al Tagliamento and will feature performances with piano accompaniment, with each candidate performing in duo formation.

For the final round, candidates will perform both in duo with a singer nominated by the organisation and alongside the Orchestra of Accademia d’archi Arrigoni.

The competition awards include a First Prize of €5,000, a Second Prize of €2,000, and a Third Prize of €1,000.

The 2026 jury members are Pavel Vernikov (Artistic Director and President of the Jury), Anton Sorokow, Mami Teshigawara, Marco Serino, Michael Guttman, Silvia Marcovici, and Sunny Lee.

We warmly congratulate all selected candidates, wish them the very best of luck for the competition, and look forward to witnessing the performances of these remarkable future talents.