In 1954, the Premio Paganini Competition was established to honor the renowned virtuoso from Genoa.
Scheduled to commence on October 16, 2023, at Palazzo Tursi in Genoa, the competition will conclude on October 27 with the final event taking place at Teatro Carlo Felice. This final event coincides with the 241st anniversary of the birth of the celebrated Genoa violinist and composer.
Among the 30 young violinists participating in the elimination round in the capital city of Liguria, 7 have been directly admitted, while the remaining 23 have undergone pre-selections in Guangzhou, New York, Prague, Tokyo, and Genoa.
The group of 30 candidates includes the following individuals:
The winner of the prestigious First Prize, known as the "Premio Paganini," will receive a monetary award of €30,000. The 2nd Prize amounts to €20,000, while the 3rd Prize is set at €10,000. The 4th through 6th Prize winners will receive €4,000, €3,000, and €2,000, respectively.
In addition to the cash prize, the recipient of the Premio Paganini will be invited to perform at renowned institutions listed on the competition's website, starting with Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
Moreover, the winner will have the opportunity to play the "Cannone," the famous violin crafted in 1743 by the luthier Giuseppe Guarneri "del Gesù," which Paganini bequeathed to his hometown. This cherished instrument is currently housed in Palazzo Tursi, the seat of the Municipality of Genoa.
The 2023 jury panel includes Salvatore Accardo (President), Ilya Grubert, Michael Guttman, Christopher Reuning, Maxim Vengerov, Reiko Watanabe, and Régis Pasquier.
Notable past winners of the first prize include Gyorgy Pauk, Gérard Poulet, Salvatore Accardo, Gidon Kremer, Ilya Grubert, Leonidas Kavakos, Ilya Gringolts, Sayaka Shoji, Ning Feng, and VC Artists Inmo Yang and Kevin Zhu.
The competition's revival has received strong support from Genoa's Mayor Marco Bucci, who appointed Giovanni Panebianco, former Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture, as the President of the Prize.
