Eleven-year-old Hyunsuk Ryu is the winner of this year's Piccolo Violino Magico competition.
For his performance of Vivaldi's Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8/4 "L'inverno" and Saint-Saens' Introduction and rondo capriccioso, he won first prize, a scholarship worth €5,000, and a violin made by contemporary luthier Fabio Piagentini, worth €9,000.
Second went to Baiyi Tao of China, while third was shared by Margaryta Pochebut from Ukraine and Yunduo Li from China.
The finalists will also receive a personalized string workshop from Larsen Strings, and one year of string supplies.
The jury comprised President Pavel Vernikov, Sophie Besancon, Anna-Liisa Bezrodny, Nazzareno Carusi, Maja Jokanovic, Sunny Lee, and Yuan Tian.
US violinist Jayden King won the special prize for best performance of a Baroque concerto, while the best virtuoso piece went to Chinese violinist Li Chunxi, and another South Korean, Jane Park won the special prize for best performance of a Mozart concerto.
The contestants performed with the Accademia d'Archi Arrigoni youth orchestra in the semi-finals, and the FVG Orchestra in the finals. Giancarlo Guarino was the conductor.
Born in 2013 in South Korea, Hyunsuk Ryu attends the Seoul Central Conservatory Prodigy Class, and is a student of Sunny Lee. Earlier this year, he won first prize in the 4th International Music Competition Małopolska. He has also won first prizes in the 2022 Young Soloists Competition, and the 2021 Nanpa Music Competition.
He has played in masterclasses with Gyehee Kim, Wonhee Bae, Jaeseong Jeon, Soovin Kim, Asako Urushibara, David Kim, Ian Swensen, Ioana Cristina Goicea, Peter Schuhmayer, and Maxim Vengerov, among others.
The Piccolo Violino Magico competition is open to contestants up to 13 years old, and is based in the village of San Vito al Tagliamento in north-eastern Italy.
