Edna Unseld wins the 2025 Cooper International Competition for Violin

Edna Unseld, a 13-year-old violinist from Zurich, Switzerland secured first place and a robust prize package with her performance of Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Concerto in D Major, Op. 35 with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, Norman Huynh, Conductor.

Unseld gave her interpretation of the full concerto in the third and final performance of the evening. Finalist and 3rd place winner Tiantian Lu also performed the Tchaikovsky concerto, and 2nd place finisher Julia Xiaozhuo Wang performed Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 by Johannes Brahms.

The Finals concert was the culmination of a week of juried performances. In Wednesday’s Recital Round at Oberlin, Jinan Laurentia Woo, Emrik Revermann, and Lauren Yoon earned fourth through sixth place, respectively, and each took home a prize of $1,500. Revermann also earned the Audience Prize, which includes an award of $500. 

Thursday evening’s Honors Recital featured thirteen participants in outstanding performances selected from the first three days of competition, including works by Felix Mendelssohn, Niccolò Paganini, Jessie Montgomery, Fritz Kreisler, Eugène Ysaÿe, Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky.

Cooper Competition director and jury chair Sibbi Bernhardsson welcomed the Finals audience by remarking on all of the participants' skill and character demonstrated throughout the week of competition. He shared that he was impressed with their “level of commitment, dedication, and love that they put into the music. It's shown us that the future is bright and that life is good.”  Nearly all of the week’s participants—who had stayed on to witness the conclusion of the competition— were greeted to a warm round of applause when asked by Bernhardsson to stand and be acknowledged before the concert began.

Upon conclusion of the third performance, the jury deliberated for fewer than 25 minutes before emerging with its decision. The top three finalists will be awarded full four-year tuition scholarships to Oberlin Conservatory, pending admission. Earning second place and $10,000 was Julia Xiaozhuo Wang, who opened the evening. Tiantian Lu of Ningbo, China, performed second, earned third place, and $5,000.

Unseld received the competition's top honor, which is accompanied by a $20,000 cash prize. In addition to the cash award and scholarship, this year's expanded prize package includes a two-year loan from Jonathan Solars Fine Violins of a rare Italian violin made by Venetian violin maker Marco Antonio Cerin (circa 1785-90); a two-year partnership with MKI Artists for career mentorship, and Unseld will be a featured guest artist with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra for a mutually agreed-upon performance engagement between the winner and the orchestra during the 2025-26 or 2026-27 season. This engagement also includes a $500 Arkady Fomin Scholarship Fund Opportunity Award, granted directly to the winner by the North Shore Chamber Music Festival, as well as a lesson with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra Creative Partner Vadim Gluzman.

Bernhardsson, who described the Finals Concert as “phenomenal”, was joined on the jury by Catherine Cho, violin and chamber music faculty, The Juilliard School; Francesca dePasquale, Oberlin Conservatory assistant professor of violin; Peter Herresthal, professor at the Oslo Academy, visiting professor at the Royal College of Music, London and NYU Steinhardt School, New York; Xie Nan, professor of violin and chairman of the violin department at the Central Conservatory of Music; William van der Sloot, Oberlin Conservatory professor of violin; and John Zion, managing director of MKI Artists.

Since 2010, the Cooper Competition has been presented annually by the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. The format alternates each year between piano and violin. The 2025 violin competition was broadcast by The Violin Channel. This summer will bring the Cooper International Competition for piano scheduled for July 20-24.

The competition’s 2025 field consisted of 19 violinists, ages 13 to 17, hailing from eight countries and three U.S. states. They competed for five days on the campus of Oberlin College and Conservatory, with the Finalists determined by Wednesday’s Round Two recitals.

ABOUT THE COOPER COMPETITION: Founded in 2010, the Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition is dedicated to presenting an important international competitive opportunity to outstanding young musicians. It is made possible through the generosity of Thomas Cooper, a 1978 graduate of Oberlin College, and his wife, pianist Evon Cooper. The Cooper Competition alternates annually between piano and violin and is open to participants between the ages of 13 and 18. Past winners include pianist George Li and violinist Johan Dalene, both of whom have cultivated outstanding young performance careers.