17-year-old violinist Natalia Dragan receives the first prize of €5,000
The fifth edition of the Tibor Junior International Violin Competition took place from 1–4 July in San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy. Traditionally, the competition has taken place in Sion, Switzerland, but this year it was hosted under the auspices of Il Piccolo Violino Magico International Competition for Young Violinists as the latter celebrated its 10th anniversary. The competitions ran concurrently, and you can read the results of the Piccolo Violino Magico competition here.
The Tibor Junior Competition was open to violinists aged 14–17. Finalists performed with mezzo-soprano Margherita Scaramuzzino and the Orchestra of Accademia d’archi Arrigoni, conducted by violinist and conductor Michael Guttman.
The €5,000 first prize was ultimately awarded to Polish violinist Natalia Dragan, 17, the second prize of €2,000 to Chinese violinist Baiyi Tao, 16, and the third prize of €1,000 to Australian violinist Jayda Lu, 15.
Dragan was born in 2009 and currently studies at the Chopin Music School in Legnica, Poland. Following her orchestral debut aged six, Dragan has won prizes at 80 competitions across the globe, including the grand prize of the 2024 International Competition for Young Violinists in Honour of Karol Lipiński and Henryk Wieniawski.
This year’s jury was chaired by Pavel Vernikov and comprised Michael Guttman, Sunny Lee, Silvia Marcovici, Marco Serino, Tatjana Sotriffer and Mami Teshigawara.
Il Piccolo Violino Magico competition celebrated the results on social media:
‘Congratulations to the winners of the Tibor Junior Competition 2026! It was a pleasure to host Tibor’s fifth edition in San Vito and to have these young talents with us… Best of luck to all winners and candidates on their endeavours!’
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