Emad Zolfaghari is the first viola winner in Windsor Festival International String Competition's history

First prize winner, Canadian violist Emad Zolfaghari performing at 
Windsor Festival International String Competition 2026 
[Photo: Julian Guidera]

 This year's Windsor Festival International String Competition celebrated its 10th anniversary and, for the first time, the final on 2 October 2026 featured concerto performances with orchestra - the Orpheus Sinfonia, conductor Rory Macdonald.

And in another first, the winner this year was a viola player: the 21 year old Canadian, Emad Zolfaghari. In what was an extremely close-run final, a joint second prize was awarded to two violinists - 18 year old Lithuanian, Rokas Diržys, and 23 year old American, Sophie Werner. Diržys also won both the Orchestra Prize and the Audience Prize.

Zolfaghari played Walton's Viola Concerto,  Diržys played Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto and Werner played Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K. 216.

There was an impressive line up of judges:

Joji Hattori: Violinist and Conductor, Hsin-Yun Huang: Violist, Raphael Wallfisch: Cellist, Sally Beamish: Composer, Rory Macdonald: Conductor, Alexander van Ingen: Executive Producer, Champs Hill Records, Tom Philpott: Director of Artistic Planning, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Martin Denny: Director, Windsor Festival.

As the winner, Emad Zolfaghari receives a cash prize, a solo recording with Champs Hill Records, performance in Windsor Castle during the 2027 Windsor Festival with associate orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra followed by a UK tour, a concerto commission from composer Sally Beamish, featuring a world premiere performance in London with Orpheus Sinfonia in June 2027, and recital opportunities.

Emad Zolfaghari is a graduate of the Curtis Institute, and is currently a Kovner Fellow at the Juilliard School. He plays on a fine 1700 Matteo Goffriller viola on generous loan from the Rachel Barton Pine Foundation [see my interview with Rachel]. 

Further information from the festival website.