The Windsor Festival International String Competition is a music competition held in the United Kingdom for performers of

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, and

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

. The event is held biennially at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

. It aims to seek out exceptional young string soloists, and to, through the prize package, launch the winner's professional career.

History

In 2008,

Windsor Festival {{unreferenced, date=August 2011 The Windsor Festival was founded in 1969 with Yehudi Menuhin and Ian Hunter as artistic directors and Laurence West as executive chairman. The original idea for the festival was put forward by Hunter to the Dean of ...

launched its International String Competition in honour of Sir

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

. Th
Windsor Festival International String Competition
(WFISC) was inaugurated in 2008 to honor the festival's founder, Sir Yehudi Menuhin. Held biennially at Windsor Castle, the competition seeks to identify and support exceptional young string soloists, providing them with opportunities to launch their professional careers. Over the years, WFISC has become one of the foremost competitions of its kind, attracting talented violinists, violists, and cellists from around the world. Notable past winners include cellist Brian O'Kane (2008), violinist Diana Galvydyte (2009), and cellist Andrew Byun (2024).

Competition format

The first round is judged by submission of a video, and eight candidates out of around 200 applicants proceed through to the live rounds in Windsor, UK. The Semi-finals see each competitor perform a 45-minute public recital. Three go through to the Final round, where they compete by playing a 25-minute public recital in front of an audience in the Waterloo Chamber of the

. Prizes are presented by Festival Patron, HRH The Earl of Wessex. In 2019 the number of accepted Semi-finalists increased from eight to twelve candidates. In 2021 with the global COVID-19 pandemic restricting travel across the world the competition was held virtually.

Past winners

2009 competition

The overall winner of the 2nd WFISC was Diana Galyvdyte from Lithuania who also won the Audience Prize, as voted for by the audience on the night of the Final. The Second Prize went to Savitri Grier.

2011 competition

The overall winner of the 3rd WFISC was Yuki Ito from Japan. The Second Prize went to

Jiafeng Chen Chen Jiafeng (born April 13, 1987) () is a Chinese violinist. He was the first prize winner in the 2003 International Competition for Young Violinists K. Lipinski and H. Wieniawski, the second prize winner of the 2008 International Yehudi Menuh ...

, and Third Prize was awarded to Michael Petrov, who also won the Audience Prize, as voted for by the audience on the night of the Final. The judging panel for the final consisted of

Eugene Sarbu Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Gene Eugene, stage name of Canadian born actor, record producer, engineer, composer and musi ...

, Paul Silverthorne,

Gustav Rivinius Gustav Rivinius (born in 1965 in Saarland) is a German cellist and professor for cello at the Hochschule für Musik Saar. Life Rivinius began his cello studies at the age of six with Hermann Dirr in Munich. Later he studied in Saarbrücken ...

, Owain Arwel Hughes CBE, and Sean Bishop.

2013 competition

The winner of the 4th WFISC was Benjamin Baker from New Zealand. Baker also won the Audience Prize, as voted for by the audience on the night of the Final. The Second Prize went to Yuka Ishizuka, and Third Prize was awarded to Marisol Lee. The judging panel for the final consisted of

Erich Gruenberg Erich Gruenberg (12 October 19247 August 2020) was an Austrian-born British violinist and teacher. Following studies in Israel, he was a principal violinist of major orchestras, including the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the London ...

, Paul Silverthorne,

Thomas Demenga Thomas Demenga (born 12 June 1954) is a Swiss composer and cellist. Life and career Born in Bern, Demenga studied with Walter Grimmer, Antonio Janigro, Leonard Rose and Mstislav Rostropovich and at the Juilliard School in New York, among other ...

, David Whelton, and Alexander Van Ingen.

2015 competition

The overall winner of the 5th WFISC was Ji Yoon Lee from South Korea. The Second Prize went to

Timothy Ridout Timothy Ridout (born 1995) is a British violist and 1st Prizewinner of the prestigious Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. He has performed worldwide as both a soloist and chamber musician. Biography Ridout began his viola studies i ...

from Britain, and Third Prize was awarded to Elina Buksha from Latvia, who also won the Audience Prize, as voted for by the audience on the night of the Final. The judging panel for the final consisted of Erich Gruenberg, Roger Benedict, Raphael Wallfisch, David Whelton, Alexander Van Ingen, and Martin Denny.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://windsorfestival.com/ Violin competitions Music competitions in the United Kingdom Events at Windsor Castle