Ten violinists will proceed to the competition’s next round
The Concours Musical International de Montréal (CMIM) has announced its 2026 violin semi-finalists. They are:
Yuki Hirano (Japan)
Sijun Kim (South Korea)
Koshiro Takeuchi (Japan)
Hannah Tam (Hong Kong)
Sara Watanabe (Japan)
Michael Germer (Denmark)
Bade Dastan (Turkey and Belgium)
Laurel Gagnon (United States)
Aozhe Zhang (China)
Yume Zamponi (Italy and Japan)
The semi-finals will take place in Bourgie Hall at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, where competitors will perform a recital programme of 50 to 55 minutes. It must include a minimum of three works, including a complete sonata by a provided list of composers, a work of the candidate’s choice by any composer, and a work of free choice by a Canadian composer.
Competitors will have the chance to win prizes and grants exceeding a total value of CAD150,000. First prize is endowed with a cash prize of CAD30,000, plus a career development prize of CAD40,000.
Second and third prizes are worth CAD25,000 (CAD15,000 cash prize and CAD10,000 career development prize) and CAD20,000 (CAD10,000 cash prize and CAD10,000 career development prize) respectively, and numerous special prizes and performance engagements will also be awarded.
The finals will take place in two rounds, with the first consisting of five violinists performing a Mozart violin concerto. Three violinists will then proceed to the grand final and perform a concerto from a provided list with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.
Lucie Robert chairs the 2026 competition jury, which comprises Ju-Young Baek, Glenn Dicterow, Simin Ganatra, Yuzuko Horigome, Régis Pasquier, Barry Shiffman and Pavel Vernikov.
CMIM has been held annually since its inception in 2002, rotating between disciplines of violin, piano and voice. The 2023 violin edition was won by Dmytro Udovychenko.
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