The jury has decided
Nine prize winners at the International LOUIS SPOHR Competition
The jury has cast its vote: The 11th International LOUIS SPOHR Competition for Young Violinists at the FRANZ LISZT University of Music Weimar has nine prize winners.
First Prize in the youngest category, Category I, went to violinist Suhyeon Baek, born in South Korea in 2013. Second Prize was awarded to Soo Hyeon Woo (*2015), also from South Korea. The third-place winner, Chunxi Liu, born in 2013, is from China.
In the middle age category II, 14-year-old violinist Jayda Lu, from Australia, prevailed over the competition. She won first prize ahead of violinist Baiyi Tao (second prize), born in China in 2010. Third prize went to Israeli violinist Shira Fuchs (born 2011).
In the oldest category, Category III, Jiachen Cao was the winner: the Chinese-born musician (*2006) won first prize ahead of violinist Rokas Diržys, born in Lithuania in 2008 (second prize). Third prize went to violinist Zoja Syguda, born in Poland in 2009. In addition, a number of special prizes were awarded by the eight-member international jury, chaired by Weimar violin professor Dr. Friedemann Eichhorn.
During the festive concert featuring the prize winners on Saturday, November 7, at 7:00 p.m. in the Weimarhalle, the award-winning young violinists performed once again, playing violin concertos by Mozart, Bruch, and Mendelssohn—and received their prizes and special awards. The Staatskapelle Weimar performed under the direction of Marco Alibrando.
A total of 251 applicants from more than 40 countries around the globe had applied to participate in the 11th International LOUIS SPOHR Competition. Sixty of them were invited by the jury to Weimar for the three rounds of competition.
Since October 29, they have been competing at the highest level for prizes and special awards totaling more than 17,000 euros. In the final round, the university orchestra, conducted by Prof. Ekhart Wycik, provided the accompaniment. Starting with the second round, the competition was live-streamed on the university’s YouTube channel.
Further information:http://www.hfm-weimar.de/spohr
[November 8, 2026]