At the end of the Final of this year’s Paganini Competition in Genoa, the Artistic Director announced the Jury’s decision to award the First Prize to Aozhe Zhang, with Rino Yoshimoto second Prize and Hyun Seo Kim third Prize.

The victory of Aozhe Zhang, by unanimous decision, was declared by the jury chaired by the great violinist Uto Ughi, and composed of Pavel Berman (Italy), Pamela Frank (USA), Mihaela Martin (Romania), Enzo Restagno (Italy), Sayaka Shoji (Japan), and Ulf Wallin (Sweden).

Zhang Aozhe, born in Hefei, China in 2008, is a senior student of The Music Middle School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music now. In 2024, he won 1st prize at The 43rd International Violin Competition Rodolfo Lipizer Prize as the youngest player, as well as two special prizes for Best Lipizer Etude and Best New Interpretation. In 2025, he won 3rd prize in the Violin Section at The 9th Sendai International Music Competition.