Viola Making Competition in Paris, 2026

Concours international de lutherie: l'alto

From 14 to 18 January 2026, the Philharmonie de Paris hosted the International Viola Making Competition “Concours international de lutherie: l'alto”:

Under the direction of Raphaël Pidoux and Jean-Philippe Échard, a high-calibre jury was assembled:

Violin making jury: Jonathan Marolle – Paris, Ibiza Avalos – Cremona and Riccardo Angeloni – Cremona.

Musician jury: Prof. Pauline Sachse – Leipzig, Prof. Miguel da Silva – Geneva and Ana Bela Chaves – Paris.

During the first three days, all of the instruments submitted were examined, played and evaluated according to a catalogue of musical and violin-making criteria behind closed doors. Then, in the semi-final on 17 January, the 15 highest-rated instruments were played in a public blind test by members of the Orchestre de Paris – with complete anonymity of the instruments being ensured: all instruments were given just letters (A-O), brought onto the stage covered with a black cloth and played behind a black curtain. The expert jury mentioned above now had the task of evaluating the pure sound impression in a differentiated manner and selecting the eight best-sounding instruments.

These were played again the following day in the final in a public concert – again anonymously, behind a black curtain, and renumbered (R-Y). This time, the musicians played excerpts from viola sonatas with piano accompaniment. Here, too, the expert jury had the task of evaluating the sound impression.

For this concert, the audience was given a ballot paper with the task of ticking the best-sounding instrument and placing the paper in a ballot box.

This procedure was used twice: 
a) In the competition ‘for the talents of today’, only professional violin makers were allowed to participate.
b) In the competition ‘for the talents of the future’ - here, recognised specialist schools for violin making were able to register their talented violin-making apprentices (groups were also allowed).

Results of the International Viola Making Competition, Paris 2026

Palmarès 2026 - Concours international de lutherie

a) Viola Making Competition ‘for today's talents’ - Catégorie «Talents of today»

1st prize: Andreas Hampel (Hamburg • DE)

2nd prize: Piotr Pielaszek (Poznań • PL)

3rd prize shared equally between Marcus Klimke (Angers, F) and Jonathan Magerl (Berlin • DE)

Special prize awarded by the musicians' jury: Kenichi Hiratsuka (Gifu • JP)

Special prize awarded by the violin makers' jury: Piotr Pielaszek (Poznań • PL)

Special prize awarded by the members of the Orchestre de Paris: Jonathan Magerl (Berlin • DE)

Special prize for sound awarded by the audience at the final concert: Andreas Hampel (Hamburg • DE)

b) Viola Making Competition ‘for the talents of tomorrow’ – Catégorie «Talents de demain»

1st prize: Ècole Nationale de Lutherie de Mirecourt (F) •

Sarah Chouvet, Florent Simon, Anne Cécile Guezel, Noé Petiot, Sacha Procacci and Zi Hui Wong.

2nd prize: École Nationale de Lutherie de Mirecourt (F) •

Fanney Comte, Nino Dupierris, Ondine Gentaud, Matthias Hardy, Claire Szymczak and Thomas Vibert

3rd prize:  Swiss Violin Making School Brienz •

Laura Gartmann and Thibault Jaberg. and Thomas Vibert

Special prize awarded by the violin makers' jury: Swiss Violin Making School Brienz, see above.

Links to publications (pdf) of Philharmonie de Paris:
-> "Participants es Palmarès talents de demain"  and: -> "Participants et Palmarès talents de aujoud´hui"

The Viola Making Competition in Paris 2026 was organised by:

the Philharmonie de Paris and Musée de la Musique  as well as the Association Talents et Violoncelles