The 24th edition of the Concours Musical International de Montréal (CMIM) for violin has now announced its candidates for 2026. Since its founding in 2002, CMIM has held alternating editions for piano and voice. 

Held from May 27 to June 4, 2026, the upcoming edition will see the initial round candidates compete at the Salle Bourgie and Maison symphonique de Montréal for prizes of over $150,000.  

This year, CMIM has selected 24 competitors aged between 16 and 30 from a pool of 250 applications from violinists from across 37 countries.

The 2026 violin participants are as follows:

  • Seoyeon Baik (South Korea, 18)
  • Thomas Briant (France, 24)
  • Bade Dastan (Belgium/Turkey, 18)
  • Laurel Gagnon (U.S., 30)
  • Michael Germer (Denmark, 23)
  • Yuki Hirano (Japan, 21)
  • Sara Isabelle Ispas (Australia/Romania, 22)
  • Amia Janicki (Austria/Switzerland, 28)
  • Lorenz Karls (Sweden, 24)
  • Sijun Kim (South Korea, 23)
  • Hyun Jae Lim (South Korea, 27)
  • Chiara Sannicandro (Germany/Italy, 28)
  • Tsukushi Sasaki (Japan, 25)
  • Justin Saulnier (Canada, 20)
  • Paloma So (Canada/Hong Kong)
  • Charlotte Spruit (The Netherlands)
  • Koshiro Takeuchi (Japan)
  • Hannah Tam (Hong Kong)
  • Belle Ting (Canada)
  • Sara Watanabe (Japan)
  • Dayoon You (South Korea)
  • Yume Zamponi (Italy/Japan)
  • Aozhe Zhang (China
  • Shaoheng Zhong (China)

 

The chosen finalists will perform with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and conductor Sascha Goetzel on June 4, 2026, at the Maison symphonique in Montreal.

Chaired by jury president Lucie Robert, the 2026 jury will comprise Ju-Young Baek, Glenn Dicterow, Simin Ganatra, Yuzuko Horigome, Régis Pasquier, Barry Shiffman, and Pavel Vernikov. 

“The CMIM offers audiences the extraordinary opportunity to discover the best young violinists of the new generation,” said Executive Director Chantal Poulin. “Everything is in place to foster great performances on our stages. We invite music lovers in Montréal to save the dates for this remarkable international celebration of excellence and virtuosity.”