Christel Lee has won the 11th  International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition in Helsinki. The prize winners are:

1st prize €25 000  Christel Lee, USA
2nd prize €18 000  Emmanuel Tjeknavorian, Austria
3rd prize €12 000  Friederike Starkloff, Germany

Three other finalists, Mayumi Kanagawa (USA), Minami Yoshida (Japan) and Nancy Zhou (USA), received a prize of € 2000 each.

The Foundation of Helsinki Conservatory of Music awarded a special prize of €3000 to Emmanuel Tjeknavorian for the best interpretation of Sibelius Violin Concerto

The City of Järvenpää awarded a special prize of €2000  to Friederike Starkloff for the best interpretation of a commissioned piece in second round. The commissioned piece was one of the award-winning pieces from the Jean Sibelius Composition Competition 2015.

The best Finnish contestant Pekko Pulakka received the special prize from Yleisradio: an invitation to make a recording for Yle.

Christel Lee will perform at the following concerts in December:

• with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conductor Hannu Lintu, at the Jean Sibelius 150th Anniversary Concert in Hämeenlinna on 8th December.
• with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, conductor John Storgårds, on 10th December in Birmingham and 12th December in Dublin.