Now with Orchestra
Nine Finalists at the International LOUIS SPOHR Competition
The 11th International LOUIS SPOHR Competition for Young Violinists at the Weimar Music University is in its final phase. Nine of the 60 invited participants have been nominated for the third in-person round of judging, which will take place today, Thursday, November 5, and tomorrow, Friday, November 6, in the concert hall of the Music High School Schloss Belvedere in Weimar.
This final round, featuring the conservatory orchestra under the direction of Prof. Ekhart Wycik, can also be experienced live and via livestream on the conservatory’s YouTube channel.
By Friday evening, it will be clear who the winners of this important violin competition for young talent will be—and who will have earned the prizes and special awards totaling more than 17,000 euros.
Audiences can look forward to the concert featuring the prize winners on November 7, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. in the Weimarhalle. The program will feature famous violin concertos performed by the Staatskapelle Weimar under the direction of Marco Alibrando. Tickets cost 20 euros (reduced rate: 15 euros) and are available at the Weimar Tourist Information Office as well as at the box office.
The finalists in the three age categories come from South Korea, China, Israel, Lithuania, and Poland, though some of them now live in European countries. A total of 251 young violinists between the ages of 10 and 21 from more than 40 countries applied for the violin competition at the FRANZ LISZT University of Music Weimar.
Since its founding in the 1990s, the Weimar Spohr Competition has become one of the most internationally renowned venues for young instrumentalists. Former prize winners went on to achieve success at the ARD Music Competition, the “Leopold Mozart” Competition, and the Tchaikovsky Competition. Many of them went on to hold important positions in orchestras, including concertmaster of the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, and the Philharmonia Orchestra London.
Louis Spohr was the German Paganini, a true virtuoso violinist. Spohr (1784–1859) also composed as fast as the wind, writing nearly 300 works. The fifteen violin concertos, ten symphonies, thirty-six string quartets, and numerous operas and oratorios by this versatile concertmaster, conductor, music festival organizer, and educator are an indispensable part of the repertoire. In Gotha, Erfurt, and Nordhausen, Spohr worked as a musician and bandmaster—thus writing an important chapter in Thuringian music history.
Further information: www.hfm-weimar.de/spohr
Live stream starting with the second round: www.hfm-weimar.de and www.youtube.com/hfmfranzlisztweimar
[November 5, 2026]