• 9 January: Deadline for applications
• 18 April - 24 May (Exact date to be confirmed): Pre-selection stage in person
• 8 October: Opening of the competition
• 9 - 18 October: Preliminary rounds
• 20 - 21 October: Semi-final rounds
• 22 October: Final rounds
| Sections | Violín |
| Deadline | 05 - 09 ene 2026 |
| Finals | 08 - 25 oct 2026 |
| Where | Poznań, Polonia |
| Age groups | Open to performers born between 1996 and 2008 |
• 23 October: Gala and Prize-Winner Concert
• 24 October: Prize-Winner Concert no. 2
• 25 October: Prize-Winner Concert no. 3 (Warsaw)
In October 2026, Poznań will once again welcome the world’s most outstanding young violinists. The artists will showcase their talent and compete for the highest honours in one of the oldest and most prestigious violin competitions in the world, held under the patronage of Henryk Wieniawski since 1935. The participants will be judged by an eleven-member Jury, whose chairman will be Bartłomiej Nizioł. All of the competition rounds will be open to the public, and audience is welcome.
Past winners and laureates of the Henryk Wieniawski International Violin Competition include Ginette Neveu, Ida Haendel, David and Igor Oistrakh, Keiko Urushihara, Piotr Janowski, Alena Baeva, Agata Szymczewska, Bomsori Kim, and most recently Hina Maeda.
The deadline for submitting applications and recordings is 9 January 2026 at 23:59 CET. You can see the application programme here. Results of stage one of the pre-selection – the judgement of the recordings submitted – shall be made public not later than on 13 February 2026.
There will also be a second stage of the pre-selection process, which will include in-person auditions to be held live at a date between 18 April and 24 May 2026. The list of players qualified for the Competition shall be made public on 1 June 2026.
Prizes
First Prize: 60,000 Euro (gross)
Second Prize: 30,000 Euro (gross)
Third Prize: 15,000 Euro (gross)
Remaining Laureates: 5,000 Euro (gross)
The list of of extra-statutory prizes to be awarded at the Competition will be announced prior to the opening of the event
October 9–12: Stage 1
Participants will perform compositions by H. Wieniawski: one Caprice (Op.10 / Op.18), one or a group of works by the Competition’s patron (click here to see the full list), and an additional piece or pieces of their choice, composed between the Baroque and contemporary periods, for solo violin or violin with piano.
October 13–15: Stage 2
In this stage, participants will perform violin sonatas with piano (including works by Bartók, Franck, Szymanowski, Penderecki, Ravel, Bacewicz, Lutosławski, Sarasate, Saint-Saëns, Ysaÿe), as well as solo works or compositions for violin and piano from the Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th-century repertoire.
October 17–18: Stage 3
Each participant will perform one work chosen from among the following pieces: M.P. Górecki – Concerto-Notturno Op. 13; A. Panufnik – Violin Concerto; P. Vasks – Vox Amoris: Fantasy for Violin and String Orchestra, and M. Weinberg – Concertino, Op. 42.
October 20–21: Stage 4 | Semi-final
Performing with the Poznań Philharmonic Orchestra under Łukasz Borowicz, finalists will present one of the following violin concertos: J. Brahms – Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77; L. van Beethoven – Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61; A. Dvořák – Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 53; M. Karłowicz – Violin Concerto in A major, Op. 8; F. Mendelssohn – Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64, and J. Sibelius – Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47.
October 22: Stage 4 | Final
The remaining part of the final stage comprises Henryk Wieniawski’s violin concertos: No. 1 in F-sharp minor, Op. 14 and/or No. 2 in D minor, Op. 22.