The successful contestants were announced late on Sunday.
Three of them, Anna Im, SooBeen Lee and Jooha Choi, represent South Korea. The remaining semifinalists are China’s Jinzhu Li and Meng Zou, and Bohdan Luts of Ukraine.
Zofia Anna Olesik, the only Pole among the 12 participants in the third stage, failed to qualify.
In the semifinals, which begin on Tuesday, the participants will perform one of several concertos: by Brahms (in D major, Op. 77), Beethoven (in D major, Op. 61), Dvořák (in A minor, Op. 53), Karłowicz (in A major, Op. 8), Mendelssohn (in E minor, Op. 64) or Sibelius (in D minor, Op. 47).
They will be accompanied by the Poznań Philharmonic under its music director Łukasz Borowicz.
Three violinists will qualify for the final stage, during which they will perform one of Henryk Wieniawski’s two concertos, in F-sharp minor, Op. 14, or in D minor, Op. 22.
The prizewinners will be announced on October 22.
The first-prize winner will receive EUR 60,000, along with a range of career-development opportunities. Many special prizes will also be awarded, as well as the audience prize.
The 10-member international jury is chaired by Polish violinist Bartłomiej Nizioł, who won the 1991 Wieniawski Competition, and also includes Andrea Obiso, Liviu Prunaru, Gerhard Schulz, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Akiko Suwanai, Agata Szymczewska, Vera Tsu Weiling, Sungsic Yang, and Nancy Zhou.
The Wieniawski Competition is the world's oldest international violin competition, according to its organisers.
It was first held in Warsaw in 1935 and moved to Poznań after a 17-year hiatus. It has been held in Poznań since 1952, usually every five years.
Past winners have included David and Igor Oistrakh, Ida Haendel, Ginette Neveu, Agata Szymczewska, Veriko Tchumburidze and Hina Maeda.
Henryk Wieniawski, the Polish virtuoso after whom the competition is named, was a child prodigy who entered the Paris Conservatory at age 8.
He is widely regarded as one of the greatest violinists of the 19th century after Niccolò Paganini. He died in 1880 at the age of 45.
Henryk Wieniawski (1835-1880). Image: Polona/Public domain.
(mk/gs)