The Benjamin Britten International Violin Competition came about as the result of a somewhat surprising collaboration between a Ukrainian violinist and a British Major General.  Goodenough College, built as an ‘Oxbridge’ College in London, is home to international post-graduates studying in London.  Dima Tkachenko was already an established violinist in Ukraine and, while studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the late Professor Yfrah Neaman, was living at Goodenough College, of which Tim Toyne Sewell, a former Commandant of The Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, was Director. With the encouragement of the late Professor Yfrah Neaman, who had enormous experience in running competitions, the two of them collaborated to produce this new competition.

The first competition took place in 2004, with the Finals being played at the Barbican accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a Laureate’s concert being held in the same venue with the London Symphony Orchestra next day. The first Jury was chaired by Ida Haendel, who had played for and knew Britten, as did several other members of the Jury.  It was probably the most distinguished group of Britten specialists congregated in one place for many years. The final was won by Simone Lamsma from The Netherlands, who has gone on to win the 1st prize in the China International Violin Competition 2005 and the 2nd Prize in the Indianapolis Competition 2006 and to record a number of albums and play with a number of the world’s leading orchestras

The second competition took place in 2008 with the finals being played Cadogan Hall with the RPO. A distinguished Jury under Rodney Friend had a hard task but agreed on the worthy winner Andrey Baranov from Russia who, like Simone Lamsma, has gone on to build a distinguished career. This time the Royal Academy of Music and The Guildhall School of Music and Drama were our collaborators with the semi finals being played in their concert halls.

The third competition will take place in May 2011, the exact dates having yet to be agreed. This time, with the encouragement of Christiane Wuillamie, who has done so much to encourage young violinists through the Young Virtuosi, it has been decided to include a second competition for violinists under the age of 18, the two competitions running in parallel. Sadly Goodenough College, where the competition was born, is no longer able to participate so, for those competitors requiring accommodation, it is intended to accommodate competitors with friends of the competition.

Fundraising has started and anyone who would like to support the competition either financially or as a host for competitors is asked to contact the chairman of the competition, whose details are below.