The Competition is delighted to welcome renowned violin expert Florian Leonhard, who has agreed to offer advice to the competitors on sound adjustment and instruments for the duration of the Competition.

Florian has also kindly offered to lend, as part of the first prize, a violin by Andrea Guarneri for one year.

Florian Leonhard is one of the world’s leading experts in Italian stringed instruments and is renowned all over the world for his expertise in the field. Florian acts as specialist consultant to many of the leading solo artists in the world, including Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin and Lynn Harrell and also takes an active interest in many of the world’s most promising young musicians. His work as an instrument expert brings him into regular contact with orchestras around the world, including the LSO, the IPO, the Concertgebouw and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Born to artistic and musical parents, Florian studied at Mittenwald, Germany as a violin restorer before leaving in the mid-80s to work for W.E Hill and Sons in London, then the premier fine violin dealership and restoration workshop. Under the Hill’s uncompromising instruction he became their principle restorer in less than three years.

In 1995, he started his own restoration workshop and dealership. Class leading expertise in both restoration and authentication enabled the company to gain momentum in a few short years. It was only a matter of time before Florian Leonhard Fine Violins firmly established itself as one of the world’s foremost suppliers of fine instruments, delivering outstanding violins, violas and celli, including those by Guadagnini, Guarneri and Stradivari, of superb all-round quality to its clients.