Sydney violinist Beatrice Colombis has been selected as one of six semi-finalists in the New Zealand-based 2026 Michael Hill International Violin Competition. She will perform a piano quintet work for Round III – the chamber round – on 3 June, vying for a place in the finals round later this week.

Her fellow semi-finalists are Hyein Koo (Seoul), Tianyou Ma (New York), Jakow Pavlenko (Berlin), Julia Wang (Vienna) and Xunyue Zhang (Berlin).

Beatrice Colombis performing at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. Photo courtesy of the Michael Hill International Violin Competition

In the quarter finals, Colombis also earned a $1,000 NZD prize for best performance of a New Zealand-commissioned work,  Salina Fisher’s Chasm.

Currently studying at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, Colombis has earned first prizes at the Kendall National Violin Competition and the Melbourne Bach Competition, and was a finalist in the Tokyo Classic Violin Competition.

In 2023, she was selected as an Australian Chamber Orchestra Emerging Orchestra and has performed with the ACO, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Western Sydney Philharmonic and Ensemble Apex, amongst other groups.

She has collaborated with artists including Anthony Marwood, Julian Smiles and the Brodsky Quartet.