Berlin-based Australian violinist Beatrice Colombis has won the 12th Michael Hill International Violin Competition, generously supported by the Hill Family Foundation for Arts and Music.

Following a spectacular Grand Final at Auckland Town Hall’s Great Hall tonight in which three finalists, including Tianyou Ma and Jakow Pavlenko, each performed a concerto with the Auckland Philharmonia, 22-year-old Colombis was announced the winner of the 2026 Competition, receiving NZ$40,000, a recording contract with the Atoll label, a multi-centre Winner’s Tour with Chamber Music New Zealand and Auckland Philharmonia, and a personalised professional development programme.

The full list of prize winners is:

First prize (prizes as above): Beatrice Colombis (Sydney/Berlin)
Second prize (NZD$10,000): Tianyou Ma (New York)
Third prize (NZD$5000): Jakow Pavlenko (Berlin)
Fourth prize (NZD$4000): Hyein Koo (Seoul)
Fifth prize (NZD$3000): Julia Wang (Vienna)
Sixth prize (NZD$2000): Xunyue Zhang (Berlin)

Best performance of the New Zealand-commissioned work: Beatrice Colombis

Chamber Music Prize (NZD$1000): Jakow Pavlenko

Sheila Smith Prize (Three-year loan of a Domenico Montagnana violin, facilitated by Rare Violins of New York In Consortium): Beatrice Colombis

The Audience Prize, as voted by both in-person and livestream audiences, was Beatrice Colombis.

Competition Executive Director Anne Rodda said, “This year, we celebrated twenty-five years of artistic excellence and have been extremely humbled by the respect we received from the global community. For a relatively young organisation, from a small nation in the South Pacific, we are proud to stand alongside the world`s leading violin competitions and contribute to nurturing the next generation of great artists.

“This competition of course began as the dream of Sir Michael Hill. We are delighted and incredibly grateful, this Competition and every Competition, to see up close, for those of us in the concert hall, and also for the hundreds of thousands who tune in to our live streams from across the world, the wide-reaching value of the Hill family’s commitment to supporting the next generation of violinists.”

MEET OUR FINALISTS: Jakow Pavlenko

Jakow studied with Prof. Ina Kertscher at the HMTM Hannover from 2013 to 2022 and since 2022 has been a student of Prof. Antje Weithaas at the Hanns Eisler Berlin. He has participated in masterclasses with Viktor Tretjakov, Ana Chumacenco and Julia Fischer and has performed with renowned musicians such as Mischa Maisky.

In February 2017, the German Music Foundation honoured him as the youngest prize winner of the 25th competition of the German Musical Instruments Fund and also provided him with an instrument, currently a violin by Giuseppe Ornati, Milan 1924, from the collection of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In May 2021, he was the youngest participant to win second prize and several special prizes at the Odessa International Violin Competition and the international Viktor Tretjakov Violin Competition in Krasnoyarsk. In 2024, he won the prize for the best interpretation of the commissioned piece at the Stuttgart International Violin Competition.

Pavlenko has performed with the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic and the Odessa Symphony Orchestra. He has been a guest at the Beethovenfest in Bonn, the Ludwigsburg Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Ludwigsburg Music Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Hitzacker Music Week and the Rheingau Music Festival, and he has performed in concert halls such as the Great Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, the Great Hall of the Elbphilharmonie and the Pierre Boulez Hall.

In 2024 Jakow played his first solo tour in Japan. Since 2024, he has been a scholarship holder of the Cusanuswerk, and since 2025 he has been a scholarship holder in the concert promotion programme of the German Music Council.

In Saturday`s Grand Final, Jakow will perform the Sibelius Concerto in D minor, Op 47.

BEST OF LUCK JAKOW!

MEET OUT OUR FINALISTS: Beatrice Colombis

Beatrice Colombis, 22, is an Italian-Australian violinist who is currently studying at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin with former MHIVC winner, Professor Suyeon Kang.

Beatrice began her studies at the age of three with renowned teacher of the Suzuki Method, Yasuki Nakamura, and continued her studies with ACO violinist Ilya Isakovich.

She has been a prize winner in several Australian competitions, including the 2nd prize in the Dorcas McClean Travelling Scholarship (2025), 1st and audience prizes at the Kendall National Violin Competition (2023), Richard Mills first prize in the Melbourne Bach Competition (2021) and the Anne Kantor Award in the Great Romantics Competition (2024).

In 2020, Beatrice, with her brother and cousins as the Cousin Quartet, won Musica Viva’s Inaugural Strike A Chord national chamber music competition. Beatrice has performed as a soloist with Concerto Arcana, Caesura Ensemble, and the Sydney Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra.

In 2024 she completed her Bachelor Degree of Music Performance at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music studying with Professor Goetz Richter. In the same year, she was a semi-finalist in the Max Rostal International Violin Competition in Germany and a finalist in the Tokyo Classic Violin Competition in Japan.

Beatrice was selected as an Emerging Artist with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in 2023 and 2024. She has played as a casual with the ACO and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. She was selected for the Gustav Mahler Academy in Bolzano in 2025/26.

Beatrice has travelled and performed with various string quartets, including touring NSW and taking part in masterclasses and festivals in Finland, Austria and Germany. In 2024 her quartet Elvina gave their debut recital in Melbourne after returning from a residency in Munich with the Schumann Quartet. Other chamber music collaborators include Anthony Marwood, Julian Smiles, Roger Benedict, Kristian Winther and the Brodsky Quartet.

In Saturday night`s Grand Final, Beatrice will be playing the Shostakovich Concerto in A minor, Op 99.

BEST OF LUCK BEATRICE!

MEET OUR FINALISTS: Tianyou Ma

Praised for his exquisite sound and expressive artistry, Tianyou Ma has established himself as one of the outstanding musicians of his generation. He is a top prize winner at the Sendai International Music Competition, Singapore International Violin Competition (also recipient of the Bach Prize), Menuhin International Violin Competition (also recipient of the Bach Prize), Barbash Bach Competition, and Postacchini Competition.

As a soloist, Tianyou has appeared with major orchestras including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, Webern Kammerphilharmonie, and Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. He has collaborated with leading chamber ensembles such as the Dover Quartet, Rosamunde Quartet, and Ysaÿe String Quartet, and has been featured at festivals including the Verbier Festival Academy (as both soloist and chamber musician), Gstaad Strings Academy, Music@Menlo International Program, and the Internationale Sommerakademie der mdw.

Tianyou will continue pursuing the prestigious Artistic Diploma program at The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Catherine Cho, with whom he also serves as Teaching Assistant. He recently completed his Master of Music at Juilliard as a Kovner Fellowship recipient, where the school awarded him the William Schuman Prize for outstanding achievement and leadership.

Tianyou’s musical path has been shaped by the support of many scholarships and fellowships. He studied at the Curtis Institute of Music on full scholarship with Pamela Frank and Shmuel Ashkenasi, where he was awarded the 2023 Milka Violin Artist Prize and spoke as a commencement speaker. His early training began at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide, Australia, under Keith Crellin, before continuing at The Yehudi Menuhin School in the U.K. with Diana Galvydyte, where he was also supported by the UK’s Music and Dance Scheme.

In Saturday`s Grand Final, Tianyou will perform the Sibelius Concerto.

BEST OF LUCK TIANYOU!
📸 @adrianmallochphotography

Queenstown has been action-packed! We`ve farewelled more than a few bow strings and seen one competitor nearly take off the ground...

As we approach the end of the outstanding first two rounds (Rounds I and II) this afternoon, and we prepare for tonight`s semi-finalist announcement, we`ve been reviewing our favourite action shots by Adrian Malloch (@adrianmallochphotography). 📸