Paganini Competition

The Paganini Competition (also known as the Premio Paganini or Paganini Concorso Internazionale di Violino) is an international violin competition named after the famed virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, considered the founder of modern violin technique. Established in 1954, it is currently held biennially at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Italy, typically in September or October. The Premio Paganini is one of the most important violin competitions. Following a pre-selection stage, the contest consists of three rounds: preliminaries, semi-finals, and finals.