Johansen International Competition Announces 2022 Winners 

The Johansen International Competition for Young String Players (JIC) was established in 1997 and is sponsored by the Friday Morning Music Club Foundation (FMMC).

Held every three years, the JIC involves $67,000 in prizes, with separate cash awards for the violin, viola, and cello divisions, plus performance opportunities and scholarships to Brevard Summer Institute and Festival and Morningside Music Bridge. Winners also receive five years of complimentary FMMC student membership.

Held for ages 13 to 17, the competition was meant to be presented last year, but was canceled due to the pandemic. The 2022 edition, therefore, allowed 18-year-olds to compete who would have been eligible in the year prior.

With the finals held in Washington D.C., the competition jury comprised Judith Ingolfsson, Peter Slowik, and Bion Tsang.

The 2022 JIC finalists for each division are: 

VIOLIN

• 1st: Jinan Laurentia Woo, 14 (Republic of Korea)
• 2nd: Wan Ching Hannah Tam, 16 (Hong Kong)
• 3rd: Jacques Forestier, 17 (Canada)

VIOLA

• 1st: Seoyeon Ryu, 18 (Republic of Korea)
• 2nd: Emad Zolfaghari, 17 (Canada)
• 3rd: Claire Xu, 15 (United States)

CELLO

• 1st: Luka Coetzee, 17 (Canada)
• 2nd: Romain-Olivier Gray, 18 (United States)
• 3rd: A-Hyeon Choi, 15 (Republic of Korea)

Special prizes included Best Performance of Commissioned Work, which went to violinist Jinan Laurentia Woo and the Judges’ Commendation which was awarded to 17-year-old American cellist William Tan.

Past winners of JIC include VC Artists violinist Tessa Lark, cellist Zlatomir Fung, violinist Nancy Zhou, and violist Hae Sue Lee.