The Queen Elisabeth Competition (QEC) has announced the 71 candidates that will take part in this year’s event. The prestigious competition will see 49 women and 22 men perform, representing 20 different nationalities.
Open to international violinists aged 18 to 30, the winner will receive €25,000, a CD recording and a number of international performance opportunities. In total, 172 violinists applied to take part.
In the video round each candidate was required to play a solo violin sonata from Bach, a Paganini capriccio and a sonata from Mozart, Beethoven or Schubert. They also had to perform a composition to the accompaniment of a piano.
The first public rounds are set to take place from 29 April to 4 May in Flagey, Brussels. The jury is chaired by Gilled Ledure and features jurors Pierre Amoyal, Patrice Fontanarosa, Lorenzo Gatto, Victor Kissine, Mihaea Martin, Natalia Prischepenko.
QEC has also revealed its two featured composers for 2019. Belgian composer Bram Van Camp and Finn Kimmo Hakola will both have new commissions performed during the competition.