The Windsor Festival International String Competition is a music competition held in the United Kingdom for performers of

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

, and

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

. The event is held biennially at

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

in Windsor. It aims to seeks out exceptional young string soloists, and to, through the prize package, launch the winner’s professional career.

History

In 2008,

Windsor Festival {{unreferenced, date=August 2011 The Windsor Festival was founded in 1969 with Yehudi Menuhin and Ian Hunter as artistic directors and Laurence West as executive chairman. The original idea for the festival was put forward by Hunter to the Dean of ...

launched its International String Competition in honour of Sir

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to the v ...

Competition format

The first round is judged by submission of a video, and eight candidates out of around 200 applicants proceed through to the live rounds in Windsor, UK. The Semi-finals see each competitor perform a 45-minute public recital. Three go through to the Final round, where they compete by playing a 25-minute public recital in front of an audience in the Waterloo Chamber of the

. Prizes are presented by Festival Patron, HRH The Earl of Wessex. In 2019 the number of accepted Semi-finalists increased from eight to twelve candidates. In 2021 with the global Covid-19 pandemic restricting travel across the world the competition was held virtually.

Past winners

2009 competition

The overall winner of the 2nd WFISC was Diana Galyvdyte from Lithuania who also won the Audience Prize, as voted for by the audience on the night of the Final. The Second Prize went to Savitri Grier.

2011 competition

The overall winner of the 3rd WFISC was Yuki Ito from Japan.https://www.thestrad.com/japanese-cellist-yuki-ito-wins-windsor-competition/3252.article The Second Prize went to Jiafeng Chen, and Third Prize was awarded to Michael Petrov, who also won the Audience Prize, as voted for by the audience on the night of the Final. The judging panel for the final consisted of

Eugene Sarbu Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

, Paul Silverthorne, Gustav Rivinius, Owain Arwel Hughes CBE, and Sean Bishop.

2013 competition

The winner of the 4th WFISC was Benjamin Baker from New Zealand. Baker also won the Audience Prize, as voted for by the audience on the night of the Final. The Second Prize went to Yuka Ishizuka, and Third Prize was awarded to Marisol Lee. The judging panel for the final consisted of Erich Gruenberg, Paul Silverthorne,

Thomas Demenga Thomas Demenga (born 12 June 1954) is a Swiss composer and cellist. Life and career Born in Bern, Demenga studied with Walter Grimmer, Antonio Janigro, Leonard Rose and Mstislav Rostropovich and at the Juilliard School in New York, among othe ...

, David Whelton, and Alexander Van Ingen.

2015 competition

The overall winner of the 5th WFISC was Ji Yoon Lee from South Korea. The Second Prize went to

Timothy Ridout Timothy Ridout (born 1995) is a British violist and 1st Prizewinner of the prestigious Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition. Biography Ridout studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Martin Outram and graduated in 2016 with ...

from Britain, and Third Prize was awarded to Elina Buksha from Latvia, who also won the Audience Prize, as voted for by the audience on the night of the Final. The judging panel for the final consisted of Erich Gruenberg, Roger Benedict, Raphael Wallfisch, David Whelton, Alexander Van Ingen, and Martin Denny.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://windsorfestival.com/ Violin competitions Music competitions in the United Kingdom Windsor Castle