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American Violinist Kevin Zhu, 17, wins the 55th Paganini International Violin Competition 2018
Congratulations to Kevin Zhu, 17 of the United States, who has won the 55th Paganini International Violin Competition, which concluded Saturday in Genoa. Zhu will receive a €20,000 cash and the opportunity to perform a recital on the 1743 "Cannon’" Guarneri del Gesù, once played by Paganini.
Kevin Zhu. Photo courtesy the Paganini International Violin Competition.
Here are all the finalists in the 2018 Paganini Competition:
- First prize: Kevin Zhu, 17 of the United States
- Second prize: Fedor Rudin, 25 of France
- Third prize: Stephen Kim, 22 of the United States
- Fourth prize: Yiliang Jiang, 21 of China
- Fifth prize: Oleksandr Pushkarenko, 28 of Ukraine
- Sixth prize: Luke Hsu, 27 of the United States
Kevin Zhu also received the special prize for the best performance of a Paganini caprice during the competition. Fedor Rudin received the 2018 audience prize, and Rennosuke Fukuda received the special prize for the best performance of the contemporary work in the semi-final round.
Zhu grew up in California and studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music preparatory division with Li Lin and at The Juilliard School with Itzhak Perlman and others. At age 11 he won First Prize in the Junior Division of the 2012 Menuhin Competition, the youngest person at the time to do so.
The Paganini International Violin Competition was founded in 1954, and previous winners have included György Pauk, Salvatore Accardo, Gidon Kremer, Leonidas Kavakos and Ilya Gringolts. This year’s jury includes Sergei Krylov (chairman), Dimitri Berlinsky, Bin Huang, Heiner Madl, Svetlana Makarova, Anna Tifu, and Daniel Smith.
BELOW: Kevin Zhu plays Paganini Concerto No. 1 in D Major at Harpa International Music Academy in 2016.
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- American Kevin Zhu, 11, wins Junior Division of 2012 Menuhin Competition in Beijing
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April 19, 2018 at 06:41 AM · Congratulations! He totally deserves it, so gifted and with a perfect technique!