by Mike Telin
We all know the names of the superstar violinists who regularly grace the stages of the world’s famous concert halls. But what they have in common is that they were all once young musicians honing their skills in hopes of having a career that would lead them to those renowned venues.
Beginning on Thursday, August 6 and continuing through Monday, August 10, you can hear eighteen superstars in the making when the Cooper International Competition presents the 2026 edition for violin. All sessions will be held in Warner Concert Hall at the Oberlin Conservatory and are free and open to the public. The competition will also be streamed live on oberlin.edu and The Violin Channel. Click here for a complete schedule and here to view the participants.
“We’ve always had a lot of applicants,” competition director and jury chair Sibbi Bernhardsson said during a telephone conversation. “But at least since I took over, this was the largest number we’ve had. And once again the applicant pool was from all over the world.” From that pool of applicants, eighteen were selected to participate.
On August 6 and 7, those eighteen competitors between the ages of 13 and 18 representing Australia, Canada, China, Slovenia, South Korea, United Kingdom, and the United States, will give 30-minute recitals with piano in Warner Concert Hall. The field narrows to six on August 8, when each musician will perform a 45-minute program, again with piano. On August 10, three violinists will perform full concertos in Warner Concert Hall with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra under the direction of David Danzmayr.
An Honors Recital on August 9 will feature outstanding performances selected from the first three days of the competition. “One of my favorite things about this competition is the honors recital when the participants that are no longer in the competition are recognized for how well they played,” Bernhardsson said. “It’s a congratulatory concert where the pressure of the competition is no longer there — it’s just a fun, celebration of these young violinists.”
He added that an important mission of the Competition is to make sure that everyone who is accepted is able to participate. “Once someone is accepted we are able to cover their travel costs. We want this experience to be as positive and meaningful and exciting for the contestants as possible.”
When asked about the competition repertoire, Bernhardsson said that prior to every competition cycle he reviews and makes some tweaks and that the contestants are given a range of options. Their first round program must include a J. S. Bach fugue movement from one of the unaccompanied violin sonatas — No. 1 in g, No. 2 in a, or No. 3 in C — as well as a Paganini caprice and a Kreisler encore piece with piano accompaniment, and twelve minutes of excerpts selected by the Jury from the contestant’s concerto of choice.
“One piece that everybody in the second round is required to play is Jessie Montgomery’s Second Rhapsody. It’s actually a great competition piece, because it’s quite virtuosic in its writing, but it also leaves room for interpretive freedom. So I think it’s going to teach us a lot about the contestants who make it to the second round.”
Bernhardsson noted that he is happy to be collaborating with the ProMusica Chamber Orchestra from Columbus for the second year. “They are just a fantastic group, and they presented our last Cooper First Prize winner in a concert. Plus,Vadim Gluzman, their creative partner and principal guest artist director, met them for mentoring sessions and invited them to his and his wife’s North Shore Music Chamber Music Festival in Chicago.”
Of course, the selection of jury members is an important part of any music competition. In addition to Bernhardsson, the jury will include Jinjoo Cho, violin faculty at The Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, Scott Mello, vice president, Opus 3 Artists, Ami Oike, violin faculty at Tokyo University of the Arts (GEIDAI), and Qian Zhou, founding head of strings at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore.
“When I look for jury members I’m looking for accomplished people who are known for their artistry, but also known as teachers and people who buy into an exciting competition that is fair, educational, and offers a positive experience. And all of them bought into those things,” Bernhardsson said.
“We’re happy to have Scott Mello from Opus 3 on the jury. He’s a major manager and booking agent in our field, and he also has experience with taking on young and promising talent, and building on that. He’s going to give a career talk that I think will be very eye-opening and educational for these young students who have not had experience in dealing with the business side or the real world side of it all.”
Jinjoo Cho is another person who is dedicated to the mentorship of young people. “She’s a good friend and somebody with whom I share so many musical values. And she’s somebody whose opinion I completely trust.”
He said that Ami Oike has a stellar reputation as one of the most important teachers from Japan. “I could be wrong, but at least since I started running the competition, we haven’t had a well-known jury member from Japan. And Shin Jo from Singapore is the founder of the Singapore International Violin Competition and is one of the most respected violin teachers in the world.”
The jury also plays an important role in the mentoring of the participants “We want to make this as educational and positive an experience as possible. So while someone is still in the competition the jury and participants do not communicate, but once they are out, all the jury members are available for lessons and for comments. And I’m so excited about the master class series that we offer.”
Running a violin competition also requires you to be prepared to deal with minor instrument problems. “Maxwell Morgan will be our on site luthier. He’ll be able to help with minor adjustments and repairs in case there is an emergency like a bridge snaps or something like that.
This year’s cash prizes include first prize, $20,000, second prize, $10,000, third prize, $5,000, and fourth, fifth, and sixth prizes, $1,500 each, and the Audience Prize of $500.
The first prize winner will have the opportunity of a two-year loan of a fine violin from Jonathan Solars Fine Violins. “Jonathan is going to have an exhibition during the competition. He’s going to bring a slew of rare instruments — some Stradivariuses and del Gesus — instruments like that. Then he will announce what instrument is going to be on loan. But it’s going to be a very special instrument that he’s excited to loan to the first prize winner.”
The winner will also be a featured guest artist with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra for a performance engagement mutually agreed upon between the winner and the orchestra during the 2027-28 or 2028-29 season. This engagement also includes a $500 Arkady Fomin Scholarship Fund Opportunity Award, granted directly to the winner by the North Shore Chamber Music Festival, as well as a lesson with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra Creative Partner Vadim Gluzman.
As part of their shared mission to provide vital performance opportunities to outstanding young talent, the Bar Harbor Music Festival has partnered with the Cooper Competition to feature selected past prize winners from the Cooper Competition in their annual summer festival in Bar Harbor, Maine.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com July 30, 2026
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