2026 Winner 18 & Under - Mio Imai — Sibelius, Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op 47

Soloist: Mio Imai, Violinist Sibelius, Violin Concerto in D Minor, Op 47, 1. Allegro moderato International Young Artist Concerto Competition Maxim Anisimov, Audio Engineer & Videographer Recorded in Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University in Chicago, IL SEEN Worldwide Orchestra Conductor: Connor Gray Covington Mio Imai, age 15, studies violin with MIdori, Kimberly Fisher, and is coached by Mark Livshits. Mio made her first appearance as a soloist at age of 9. She has performed as a soloist with multiple orchestras, including Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, FVG Orchestra(Italy) and Accademia d’Archi Arrigoni Orchestra (Italy). She won the 1st prize in 2024 Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition (Belgium), 2024 Stulberg International String Competition (US), 2024 MTNA National Competition (US) and 2023 Piccolo Violino Magico International Competition (Italy). Mio is also a former major prize winner at Leonid Kogan International Competition, Ronald Sachs International Music Competition, Johansen International Competition, Nashville Symphony Curb Concerto Competition and Chicago Violin International Competition. Mio plays a Vincenzo Sannino violin and Francois Nicolas Voirin bow on loan from the Takeuchi Collection through the Nippon Violin Society program.