Following a spectacular Grand Final at Auckland Town Hall’s Great Hall on Saturday 6 June, 22-year-old Berlin-based Australian Beatrice Colombis was announced the winner of the 2026 Michael Hill International Violin 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 (Chasm by Salina Fisher): 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.