12-year-old Mio Imai, a young violinist from Japan, has been honored with the first prize at the 2023 "Il Piccolo Violino Magico" International Competition for Young Violinists in San Vito al Tagliamento, Italy.

Under the guidance of Kimberly Fisher in Philadelphia, Mio is currently studying and has previously been recognized as a prize winner at the Leonid Kogan and Chicago International Violin Competitions.

As a reward, Mio will be granted €5,000 and a contemporary violin crafted by Fabio Piagentini, courtesy of the Risonanze Festival.

Among this year's finalists were Jayda Lu from Australia, Kim Yeonah from South Korea, and Song Elizabeth from the United States.

The annual "Little Piccolo" event was broadcasted live on The Violin Channel and is now accessible for playback.

The esteemed jury panel for this year consisted of Pavel Vernikov (Chair), Koh Gabriel Kameda, Janne Malmivaara, Henja Semmler, George Tudorache, Robin Wilson, and Yamei Yu.