Following the success of the 2024 London event-attended by King Charles III and featuring a concert by Simon Zhu, “Il Cannone,” and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by M° Pappano-Premio Paganini returns to the United Kingdom with two concerts at the Italian Cultural Institute in London and Pembroke College in Cambridge to announce the Regulations for the 59th edition and introduce the International Jury, which will be chaired by Chinese violinist Ning Feng.

The event was attended by Premio Paganini's President, Giovanni Panebianco; Artistic Director, Nicola Bruzzo; and the renowned Maestro Ning Feng, winner of Premio Paganini in 2006, the youngest Jury President in the history of the Premio Paganini, and the first from Asia.

The other members of the jury—which is characterized by a higher proportion of women and a lower average age than in the past—are South Korean violinist Ju-Young Baek; Mauro Bucarelli, Artistic Secretary of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; violinist Francesca Dego; American violinist and violist Ida Kavafian; Roman Simovic, concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra; and Japanese violinist Akiko Suwanai. The competition rules allow for the subsequent appointment of two additional jury members for the final round of the competition only.

The repertoire of the 59th edition of the Competition, characterized by great stylistic variety and reflecting a more modern, soloistic vision of the virtuoso artist, gives ample space to chamber music and features the semifinal performance of a work for violin and live electronics, commissioned from Italian composer Matteo Franceschini, as a significant introduction to a contemporary approach that cuts across artistic disciplines.

The live preliminary rounds will take place between April and May 2027 in Tokyo, Shanghai, Berlin, Genoa, and New York.
The final rounds of the competition will be held in Genoa from October 12 to 24, 2027. The events will be hosted not only at Palazzo Tursi and the Teatro Carlo Felice, but also—and this is another new development—at the Teatro Gustavo Modena.
The Regulations for the 59th edition, also available in English, can be viewed on this website.

Registration will be open from September 1 to December 1, 2026.

During the event at the IIC in London, which was attended by Alessandro Tantardini, president of the Stauffer Foundation, and Ms. Carmina Sarbu, two important books dedicated to the Genoese genius were also presented: “Il Libro Mastro di Niccolò Paganini: diario di un viaggio europeo” and “Il Cannone di Niccolò Paganini e la conservazione del violino storico,” both published by “L’Erma” di Bretschneider.

Later in the evening, words will give way to music with a concert by Japanese violinist Rino Yoshimoto—who placed second in the 58th edition of the Competition—performing in a duo with Russian pianist Sergei Redkin, a multi-award-winning artist with a brilliant international career. 
The events in the United Kingdom are part of the “Paganini Abroad” program, which the Paganini Committee has adopted to consolidate the international dimension of the Premio, particularly through collaborations with embassies, Italian Cultural Institutes, and prestigious musical institutions, with the aim of strengthening and promoting Genoa’s image around the world. The “Paganini Abroad” program also benefits from the support of the Liguria Region, which, through Agenzia In Liguria, has recognized the Premio Paganini as one of the most effective tools for promoting Liguria’s cultural heritage internationally.