Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition
The International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition (Polish: "Międzynarodowy Konkurs Skrzypcowy im. Henryka Wieniawskiego") is a competition for violinists up to age 30 that takes place every five years in Poznań, Poland, in honor of the virtuoso and composer Henryk Wieniawski (1835–1880). The first competition took place in 1935 in Warsaw, 100 years after the birth of its patron, and consisted of two stages. The second, after a gap of 17 years in 1952, and subsequent events were held in Poznań in three stages. In 2001 it was decided that the competition would henceforth be held  in four stages. Candidates shall be qualified for the competition subject to preliminary selection auditions run by Maxim Vengerov and another member of the jury. The following three statutory prizes shall be awarded in the competition: Additional prizes include three honorary distinctions of 5,000 Euro and the special extra-statutory prize funded by Maxim Vengerov: 12 individual lessons for one of the competition participants. The first edition of the competition took place in 1935 in Warsaw and drew 160 contestants from 23 countries. The inaugural winner of the competition was France's Ginette Neveu. One of the participants was also  Grażyna Bacewicz who received an honorary diploma and was to become a future juror of the competition. The two first prizes were funded by renowned Polish luthier Tomasz Panufnik.