Princess Astrid International Music Competition

01/07/2025

Are you a conductor under 35? This is your moment ✨

Compete on an international stage in one of Scandinavia’s most vibrant music cities – Trondheim: Home to the renowned Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera, known for its versatility and openness.

We’ve increased the first prize, and the winner will also get an exclusive mentorship with Chief Conductor Adam Hickox.

📅 24–27 August 2026
Apply from January 2026

Don’t miss your chance to lead one of Norway’s top orchestras. Follow for more information.

Part of WFIMC news
Organizer: Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera

19/03/2025

This week, we’re thrilled to welcome back two past winners to the Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera stage!

Violinist Yukari Ohno, winner of our 2021 violin competition, is currently studying at Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien.

Alvin Ho, who won our conducting competition in 2022, now serves as Assistant Conductor to Jack Everly with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra in Florida.

Together, they’ll take the stage for Brahms' Violin Concerto, alongside a rich program featuring Florence Price's Andante Moderato for string orchestra and Dvořák's Symphony No. 8.

Welcome back to Trondheim, Alvin and Yukari – we’re so excited to see you both shine again!

11/03/2025

We congratulate our 2018 contestant Holly Choe on becoming the next Chief Conductor of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (Kringkastingsorkestret (KORK))!

Out of more than 300 applicants for the Princess Astrid IMC 2018, Holly made it to the top six and conducted the Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera in an exquisite way.

A warm welcome back to Norway, and best of luck, Holly!

Artist photo: Emily Turanik

25/12/2024

We are ending this year looking back on another fantastic competition, with the highlights of our week in September.

Thank you to our magnificent jury and to all our violinists: from those who sent application videos, the nine participants who came to Trondheim and shared their music, to the three finalists and finally our winner Sara Dragan.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year ✨

Watch the highlights here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ayWvucjTDg

11/12/2024

"Winning Princess Astrid Competition was a blast - Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera and Maestra Anna Maria Helsing were truly amazing to share the stage with and I really fell in love with Norway, can not wait to be back already!"

Thank you for your kind words Sara Dragan - can´t wait to have you back as well ☺️

🌟𝗪𝗙𝗜𝗠𝗖 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰: 𝗦𝗮𝗿𝗮 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗻, 𝗩𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻, Princess Astrid International Music Competition, 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗺

💡What is the most adventurous thing you’ve done in your concert life?

I definitely had a fair share of crazy stories on tour... I broke my E string multiple times on stage, swapped violins with concertmaster, dropped the bow, lose the shoe on stage while playing, not to mention the usual - lost luggage with concert dresses and scores by the airline few hours before the performance. But the most challenging situation was probably being told 1 minute before going on stage during the USA tour (I was suppose to play Wieniawski Concerto and that's what we rehearsed) that there is a mistake and I have to play Tchaikovsky (which I didn't even look at for a good month)... went well, loaded with adrenaline, but definitely one to remember!

💡What are your musical plans for this year?

Soon I am flying to Switzerland to play Beethoven VC 3 times and that's how the season starts for me, then I am off to beautiful Cavatina Hall to perform Wieniawski Concerto... concerts coming up in Europe, Asia and America. I am releasing the CD with all works for violin and piano by L.Godowsky, which I recorded last year with pianist Kenny Broberg, but in the meantime we are already planning on recording the next one - can't say much for now, but it's a very special project that no one has done before! I am also finishing my last years of studies with Zakhar Bron at ESMRS in Madrid.

💡Whats your best memory from winning a competition?

I have done around 70 competitions in my life! Starting from small ones when I was a kid, now the number seems insane to me...but it taught me a lot. It is always unbelievably nice to win, but I have to say that even when I do win, first thing I do is try to figure out what I could have done better, there's no "top" in this profession and I think that's what makes it so beautiful and of course frustrating at times haha! Winning Princess Astrid Competition was a blast - Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and Maestra Anna Maria Helsing were truly amazing to share the stage with and I really fell in love with Norway, can not wait to be back already!

Congratulations, Sara!🎉🎻

09/10/2024

The best Norwegian candidate on this year's competition was Inga Våga Gaustad. She was in the top six, and won the Finn Audun Oftedal Memorial Scholarship of NOK 10 000.

Inga is a dedicated chamber musician based in Copenhagen and The Hague. Since 2020, she has been the primarius of the award-winning Dutch string quartet Animato Kwartet.

Born in Kirkenes, Norway, in 1998, Inga began playing the violin at age seven in her hometown of Nesodden. She studied at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo under Eileen Siegel, Geir Inge Lotsberg, and Henning Kraggerud. In July 2022, she completed her bachelor's degree at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ under Prof. Kolja Blacher and Ning Feng, and began her master’s degree at HKB in Bern with Corina Belcea in September 2022. In 2023, she continued her studies in Copenhagen with Peter Herresthal, where she is currently enrolled.

At age 17, Inga reached the finals of the Norwegian Broadcasting Company’s ‘Virtuoso’ competition, performing with the Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra. She has also performed with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, and Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, among others.

In 2023, the Animato Kwartet was awarded the prestigious Kersjesprijs, a €50,000 cash prize for career development. Inga plays a Tommasso Eberle built in Naples in 1776 on generous loan from Dextra Musica.

We congratulate Inga and look forward to seeing her on stage again - we're sure she has a great career ahead of her.

03/10/2024

Three weeks have passed since the final concert of our 2024 violin competition.

If you want to revisit the concert, it is available to watch on YouTube and TSO Play 👇👇👇

Three world-class young violinists compete for gold

12/09/2024

The WINNER of Princess Astrid International Music Competition 2024 is

🥇 Sara Dragan (25) from Poland!

Sara Dragan, born in 1999, is an award-winning concert violinist who began playing the violin at age 7, under the guidance of her parents. She is currently studying with Zakhar Bron at Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid and performs on a G.B. Guadagnini violin, generously loaned by Florian Leonhard Fine Violins.

Sara has won first prize in around 60 violin competitions, including the Oistrakh, Novosibirsk, NYIAA, Telemann, and K. Lipinski & H. Wieniawski International Violin Competitions. She has performed at prestigious venues such as the Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall in LA, Konzerthaus Berlin, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Rachmaninoff Concert Hall in Moscow, NFM Wroclaw, NOSPR Katowice, and the Polish Royal Palace in Warsaw.

As a soloist, Sara has played with numerous orchestras, including the Prague Chamber Orchestra, Novosibirsk Philharmonic, Wroclaw Philharmonic, Armenian State Symphony, Royal Chamber Orchestra, Martinu Philharmonic, Slovak Sinfonietta, and the Polish Wieniawski Philharmonic Orchestra.

The 1st prize is 160 000 NOK (approximately 15 000 €), and a concert engagement with Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera.

Jiayi Chen (28) - The People's Republic of China, won the 2nd prize of 50 000 NOK.

Sungmin Cho (23) - Republic of Korea, won the 3rd prize of 25 000 NOK.

Congratulations to all our finalists with great performances in the final concert!



WFIMC news

10/09/2024

Our finalists are chosen!🔥

The jury has spoken, and our finalists are:

Jiayi Chen (28), People's Republic of China

Sara Dragan (25), Poland

Sungmin Cho (23), Republic of Korea

They will be performing with Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera in Olavshallen Thursday at 7:30 PM, where a winner will be selected. The concert is also live streamed from https://www.tso.no/tso-play/princess-astrid-international-music-competition-2024

Congratulations!

09/09/2024

The jury has announced which participants will move on to the Second round of finals. The second round takes place Tuesday 10 September, in Rådhussalen in Trondheim Public Library.

1:00 PM - Concert one
- Yun Lee
- Jieun Son
- Sara Dragan

3:30 PM - Concert two
- Inga Våga Gaustad
- Jiayi Chen
- Sungmin Cho

Congratulations to all!



Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera WFIMC news

03/09/2024

CHANGES TO THE JURY 👩‍⚖️

We welcome Kristīne Balanas to our jury, to take the place of Baiba Skride.

Kristīne is a Latvian violinist, frequently heard on stages all over Europe and beyond.

And on Monday we're starting the opening rounds 👏👏👏



Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera