Carl Flesch International Violin Competition

[1][2][3][4] Founded in honour of the Hungarian violinist Carl Flesch, it was originally organised by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and after 1968 formed part of the City of London Festival.

Particularly in the City of London Festival era, it was regarded as among the "most prestigious" competitions for string players,[3] and "one of the most important testing grounds for aspiring soloists up to the age of 32.

[10] In 1949, the Carl Flesch competition was described by The Musical Times as "the premier international award for violinists under thirty years of age".

[15][16] Yfrah Neaman, a pupil of both Flesch and Rostal,[5] was the director and chair from 1968; he increased the competition's standing by recruiting Yehudi Menuhin and others to serve on the jury.

[18] The formal title became the City of London International Competition for Violin and Viola (Carl Flesch Medal).

[19] From the 1970s specially composed test pieces were employed, which derived from a composers' competition organised by the Society for the Promotion of New Music; these include Michael Blake Watkins' The Wings of Night, Edward McGuire's Rant, Helen Roe's Notes towards a Definition and Michael Finnissy's Enek.

[25][26][27] In the 1980s and 1990s the finals were held in the Barbican Hall, with six finalists each performing a classical and a romantic or 20th-century concerto over several days in some years.

[3][4] The loss of the Carl Flesch competition was described in 2003 by Malcolm Layfield, director of the strings department at the Royal Northern College of Music, as "a gap in the UK's contribution".