Ask any soloist what jump-started their career, and more often than not the answer is, “I won a competition.” With so many variables in the mix, ranging from judges’ tastes to how a performer feels on a given day, competitions may not always offer the most accurate gauge of a musician’s skills. Still, there is no faster or better way to get noticed. And for some prize-winners, the rewards go far beyond aesthetic achievement.
“It definitely changed my life,” says Augustin Hadelich, winner of the Gold Medal at the 2006 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. “Winning the IVCI came at the end of a year full of setbacks – I was almost broke. The competition win lifted my spirits and gave me new confidence that perhaps I could make it after all!”
Hadelich has had a stellar career since, playing with many of the world’s finest orchestras, working with A-list conductors like Sakari Oramo, Klaus Mäkelä and Jaap van Zweden, and winning multiple awards that include a Grammy for his 2015 recording of Henri Dutilleux’s violin concerto L’Arbre des songes with the Seattle Symphony. After he released a recording of Paganini’s 24 Caprices in 2018, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung captured the critical regard for Hadelich succinctly in its review: “Anyone who masters these pieces so confidently has reached the top.”
The Indianapolis competition is relatively young by international standards, but it cuts a distinctive profile. It was founded in 1982 under the artistic guidance of Josef Gingold, a Polish-born violinist who studied with the Belgian virtuoso Eugene Ysaÿe. During a 33-year career playing in orchestras in the United States, he worked at some of the highest levels – seven years with the legendary Arturo Toscanini in the NBC Symphony Orchestra, and 13 years as concertmaster for the Cleveland Orchestra under the baton of George Szell.
Gingold arguably had even more impact as a teacher. He taught at several schools throughout the country during his tenure in Cleveland, and after he retired from performing in 1960, joined the faculty at the Indiana University School of Music, where a long list of his now-famous students includes Gil Shaham, Joshua Bell, Ulf Hoelscher and Leonidas Kavakos. He was also in demand in Europe, giving annual master classes at the Paris Conservatory throughout the 1970s.
Gingold knew the competition circuit well; he was an active jurist in major international competitions such as the Queen Elisabeth, Paganini, Sibelius and Tchaikovsky. With the Indianapolis competition established as a quadrennial event, Gingold helped shape its protocol, build its repertoire and choose jurors. He also served as president of the jury, a position he handed off when he retired in 1994 to his student, friend and colleague Jaime Laredo. Gingold died the following year, but an endowment fund established in his name continues to provide a solid financial base for the Indianapolis competition.
Along with technical skills, Gingold imparted a generosity of spirit to his students, a set of human values that are part of the DNA of the competition. “Violin fever” is how The Strad magazine described the ambience of an event focused as much on career development as it is on winning prizes. For a contestant like Hadelich, that supportive environment worked very well.
“I have always found it easy to play music with others, but very difficult to compete against them, especially since some of them are my friends,” he says. “At IVCI, the organizers really went out of their way to make it as pleasant an experience as possible. Sometimes it felt more like a violin festival than a competition.”
And that atmosphere extends beyond the concert halls. The 40 contestants stay with host families rather than in hotels, often forging relationships that outlast the event.
“The American Midwest is famous for its hospitality, so I imagine that many competitors become quite close with their host families, as I did,” Hadelich says. “I still keep in touch with them to this day. They not only supported me and rooted for me, but also understood how much stress I was under. One especially thoughtful thing they did: made sure the newspaper was never left lying around, so I wouldn’t accidentally read a review of myself or one of the other competitors.”
Since 1982, a total of 11 Indianapolis competitions have produced 66 laureates from 23 different countries. Among the more well-known are concertmasters with prominent orchestras such as Jiyoon Lee (Staatskapelle Berlin), David Chan (Metropolitan Opera Orchestra) and Frank Huang (New York Philharmonic), as well as many notable soloists, including Leonidas Kavakos, Clara-Jumi Kang, Mihaela Martin, and Benjamin Beilman. As for Hadelich, he not only won the Gold Medal in 2006, but eight of the nine special prizes for a total cash award of $44,000. He also received a recording contract (for one album on Naxos), a Carnegie Hall debut, international tour with award-winning pianist Yingdi Sun and four-year loan of a Stradivarius violin and Tourte bow.
Still, some of the best post-victory advice Hadelich got came from his then-manager, New York agent Michal Schmidt. In many ways it echoed the lessons and values that Gingold passed along to his students.
“The most important thing Michal taught me is that there are no small or big concerts,” Hadelich says. “Every single one should be approached with the same dedication, whether it’s in Carnegie Hall or Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where I had a lovely time. Whether you’re in a big city or a small village, the mission is the same: to bring the music to life and connect with listeners, no matter who they are. Snobbishness simply has no place in this line of work.”
It’s clear Hadelich took that advice to heart when he’s asked to name highlights of his performing career. “Growing up as a German boy who played the violin, the Berlin Philharmonic was the Mount Olympus of music to me, so the first time I performed with that orchestra in 2021 was an incredible experience,” he says. “Other debuts with great orchestras and in the most storied halls – Carnegie Hall, Musikverein, Concertgebouw for example – were also awe-inspiring. But I can honestly say that almost all my performances felt very meaningful. Friends are often surprised that I remember the month and year and concerto and conductor of almost every performance I’ve played in the past 20 years!”
It’s also telling that when he’s asked to name the most significant awards of the many he’s received, he singles out just one: 2018 Musical America Instrumentalist of the Year. “After about 10 years of performing in every corner of the United States, and especially after becoming an American citizen, this award felt very meaningful.”
Hadelich maintains an intense touring and performance schedule, typically playing 10 or more concerts a month. He characterizes it as both a personal obsession and occupational hazard. “I have found that I really thrive and play my best when I perform all the time,” he says. “Stepping onto the stage, I feel that I am home and totally in my element. There is also – and this is not uncommon among my colleagues — a certain ‘fear of missing out.’ We have a desire to play everything, everywhere, all at once.”
Somehow Hadelich also finds time to teach at the Yale School of Music in New Haven, Connecticut, where he lives. It’s another opportunity to practice the values that he embraced early in his career. “Teaching is very rewarding,” he says. “It’s such a great feeling when something that I told a student is working and helping them. It’s a bit of a clichè, but true, that you end up learning a lot by teaching. The process of explaining something clarifies and solidifies the idea in your own mind.”
While the overall contours of Hadelich’s career are set, he is planning some fine-tuning going forward, starting with his schedule. Even he has to admit it’s a bit much. “When I was cooped up during the pandemic, and all concerts were canceled, I was eager to return to playing as much as possible,” he says. “I am now trying to plan little periods of rest in future seasons.”
Hadelich maintains a notably broad repertoire, which will not change. “The contrast and variety of the repertoire is what keeps things exciting for me,” he says. But it’s possible he may revisit some of the pieces he’s recorded. “I’m proud of the amount of work I put into my recordings, but I’m no longer totally happy with some of them and want to interpret the pieces differently now,” he says.
Driving it all is a sense of mission and deep commitment to his art. “Music is a universal language that has the unique power to emotionally connect with people across cultural divides, ideological divides and language barriers,” he says. “And the greatest music gives us back more than the time we put into it. So I feel very lucky to be doing what I’m doing.”
Applications are open until 28th February for the next International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. The Competition is held from 17th September to 4th October 2026.
See more information about the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.
See upcoming performances from Augustin Hadelich.
This article was sponsored by the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.
