Six violinists have secured their places in the semi-finals of the 17th Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań. With three places in the grand final available, the next two days will decide who remains in contention for one of classical music’s most prestigious prizes.
The jury, chaired by Polish violinist Bartłomiej Nizioł, selected the six musicians following the third round of performances. They are Jooha Choi, Anna Im, SooBeen Lee, Jinzhu Li, Bohdan Luts and Meng Zou.
The semi-finals take place on Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st October, with the three finalists due to be announced shortly after the final performance.
Six musicians, six concertos
The third round saw 12 violinists choose from four works, accompanied by the Polish Radio Chamber Orchestra Amadeus under conductor Anna Duczmal-Mróz.
The available repertoire ranged from Mikołaj Piotr Górecki’s Concerto-Notturno, Op. 13, to Andrzej Panufnik’s Violin Concerto, Pēteris Vasks’s Vox Amoris and Mieczysław Weinberg’s Concertino, Op. 42. Weinberg’s work proved the most popular, chosen by five competitors.
For the fourth round, the remaining six musicians will perform with the full symphony orchestra of the Poznań Philharmonic, conducted by Łukasz Borowicz.
Each violinist can select one of six concertos, including works by Sibelius, Dvořák, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Karłowicz and Beethoven. The variety of repertoire gives the semi-finalists an opportunity to demonstrate their individual musical strengths before the jury makes its final selection.
Three places in Thursday’s final
The three successful semi-finalists will return to the stage on Thursday, 22nd October for the competition’s final round. They will perform one of Henryk Wieniawski’s own violin concertos: the First in F-sharp minor, Op. 14, or the Second in D minor, Op. 22.
The winners will be honoured at the awards gala on Friday, 23rd October.
How to watch the semi-finals and final
Performances will be available through the official Wieniawski Society YouTube channel, as well as Violin Channel, Medici.tv and Amadeus.tv. In Poland, coverage is also scheduled on TVP Kultura, TVP Kultura 2 and Polish Radio Programme Two.
The latest programme information and competition updates are available on the official Wieniawski Competition website.
With six musicians now in the semi-finals and only three places in the final, the competition enters its decisive stage this week in Poznań.
See more: Clear Your Calendar (and Make Room for Croissants): St Martin’s Day 2026
