The Tenth Triennial Johansen International Competition for Young String Players took place March 17-20, 2025, at Live! At 10th & G (First Congregational UCC) in Washington, DC. To learn more about the 2025 competition, and to see what repertoire was performed during semifinal and final rounds, take a look at the 2025 JIC semifinals program and finals program. To see a list of the eleven winners with their ID numbers, click here.
First-Place Winners
Valery Breshears
Violin
Junyan Du
Viola
Joshua Kováč
Cello
Second-Place, Third-Place, and Special Commendation Winners
Jiwoo Son
Second-Prize Violin
Elizabeth (Poppy) Song
Third-Prize Violin
Xunyu Zhou
Second-Prize Viola
Samuel Tatsuki
Third-Prize Viola
Eiline Tai
Second-Prize Cello
Best Performance of Commissioned Work
Starla Breshears
Third-Prize Cello
Mio Imai
Judges’ Commendation (Violin)
Matthew Ho
Judges’ Commendation (Cello)
Prize Winners
Violins
- First Prize – $10,000 – Valery Breshears, age 15, United States
- Second Prize – $7,000 – Jiwoo Son, age 15, Republic of Korea
- Third Prize – $5,000 – Elizabeth (Poppy) Song, age 15, United States
Violas
- First Prize – $10,000 – Junyan Du, age 16, China
- Second Prize – $7,000 – Xunyu Zhou, age 17, China
- Third Prize – $5,000 – Samuel Tatsuki, age 17, United States
Cellos
- First Prize – $10,000 – Joshua Kováč, age 17, United States
- Second Prize – $7,000 – Eiline Tai, age 17, United States
- Third Prize – $5,000 – Starla Breshears, 17, United States
Best Performance of Commissioned Work, Shredding, by Mark G. Simon – $1,000 – Eiline Tai (Cello), age 17, United States
Judges’ Commendation – $500 – Mio Imai (Violin), age 14, Japan and Matthew Ho (Cello), age 16, United States
