In 2001, when the world celebrated the centenary of the birth of Jascha Heifetz, the musical society of his native Vilnius did not stay aside. In commemoration of an outstanding violinist the Violin Days and the International Violin Competition dedicated to the one-hundredth anniversary of Jascha Heifetz were organised. During the competition, the famous Gidon Kremer headed an international jury and the participants were numerous gifted young people from both Lithuania and abroad. The event aroused a great interest of the society and the hall of the National Philharmonic Society was full during the closing concert. The organisers fostered a dream to make this competition dedicated to the anniversary of Jascha Heifetz a regularly occurring event.
Thanks to competition enthusiasts – Professors of Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre Petras Radzevičius and Jurgis Dvarionas – as well as to state cultural institutions, this dream did come true. The second competition, which took place in the middle of February, 2005, was also enthusiastically welcomed by music professionals and abundant music lovers of Vilnius. Gidon Kremer, who was the head of the jury, emphasized high criteria of this competition and stated that playing in the hall with the portrait of Jascha Heifetz was an extraordinary task and responsibility to all young musicians. The competition now takes place every four years, the third competition being part of the “Hommage à Heifetz” project at the start of Vilnius’ year as European Capital of Culture in 2009.
VSI Natu knygynas and Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre
Submission of recordings followed by two rounds.
The participants should be aged up to 27 years old.
Every four years.
TBA 2025
TBA 2024
competition
The competition will take place on 16 January- 25 February 2021, in several stages:
The Competition is open to violinists from all countries, born on or after February 2, 1994.
The students of the Jury members can take part in the competition, but those Jury members are not allowed to vote for their students or have an impact on the decisions of other Jury members and their decisions.
Note: 1st prize winners of previous J. Heifetz competitions cannot participate in this Competition.
The application form must be submitted online from 15th September to 10th December 2020 on the competition website. The application fee is: 100 euro.
The following materials should be included with the Application Form:
SELECTION ROUND (recording must be sent together with the ONLINE application):
1. W. A. Mozart: First movement with cadenza of one selected violin concerto:
No. 1 in B-flat major KV 207;
No. 2 in D major KV 211;
No. 3 in G major KV 216;
No. 4 in D major KV 218;
No. 5 in A major KV 219;
2. N. Paganini: One caprice selected from Op. 1
I ROUND (no more than 40 participants):
1. J. S. Bach. Please choose one Sonata below.
Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001; III and IV movements (Siciliana, Presto);
Sonata No. 2 in A minor, BWV 1003; III and IV movements (Andante, Allegro);
Sonata No. 3 in C major, BWV 1005; III and IV movements (Largo, Allegro assai).
Movements with repeats must be performed only with the first repeats.
2. N. Paganini: One caprice selected from Op. 1 (the same can be repeated from the selection round).
3. Compulsory piece for violin solo, witten by lithuanian composer (will be sent together with the competition acceptance confirmation).
II ROUND (no more than 12 participants):
1. Selected virtuoso piece (duration up to 15 min.);
2. Transcription by Jascha Heifetz;
3. W. A. Mozart: First movement of the violin concerto No. 4 in D major KV 218 with J. Heifetz cadenza.
III ROUND (no more than 6 participants):
The finalists will be accompanied by Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra.
One of the concerts for violin and orchestra:
• J. Sibelius. Violin concerto in D minor, Op. 47;
• P. Tchaikovsky. Violin concerto in D major, Op. 35;
• M. Bruch. Scottish Fantasy in E flat major op. 46;
• J. Conus. Violin concerto in E minor.
Additional prizes:
I Prize Winner Solo performance at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Society (2022)
I Prize Winner Solo performance at the Music Festival “Kintai” (2022)
Note: Other concerts will be confirmed after final agreements with the organizers.
