Award Ceremony and Gala Concert for the Winners of Age Groups 1 and 2 of the III Interregional Open Competition of Performers on String Instruments named after V. Ya. Shpet

The first winners of the III Interregional Open Competition for Performers on

String Instruments named after V. Ya. Shpet, which is taking place in Omsk from February 7 to 15, have been announced. It

opened the program of events for the federal project "Omsk – Cultural Capital of Russia 2026."

In the violin category, Lev Boyarintsev (Sirius, Krasnodar Krai) won the third place prize in the first age group, Amir Dilmukhametov (Novosibirsk) won the second place prize, and Ksenia Ovchinnikova (St. Petersburg) won the first place prize.

In the second age group, the jury awarded Stefania Mokhnacheva (Astana) the third place prize. Another representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Ziyash Abdullakbar (Almaty), won the 2nd place title, while Emilia Zhukovskaya from Krasnoyarsk was named the best.

In the Cello category in the 1st age group, the top 3 finishers are as follows: 3rd place –

Wang Zixuan (Barnaul), 2nd place – Lev Kirkinsky (Novosibirsk), 1st place – Matvey Rubin (Novosibirsk).

In the 2nd age group, Kirill Prikhodtsev from

Kazan will return home with a 3rd place laureate diploma. Cellist Maria Ivanova (Krasnodar) was awarded the 2nd place title, and

Lyubov Polubentseva from St. Petersburg was named the 1st place laureate.

The jury selected the winners in special categories.

Sholpan Barlykova (Sirius, Krasnodar Krai) was named the competition's best accompanist,

receiving the award from special jury member Zarina Shimanskaya.

For his unique approach to cello music, Lev Kirkinsky received a gift of strings from

jury member Kirill Kravtsov. Cellist and jury member Gabriel Gibran Yacoub presented

Lev Kirkinsky and Matvey Rubin with invitations to participate in the All-Russian Television Competition "The Nutcracker" without preliminary selection. Wang Zixuan received a certificate

as a scholarship recipient from the "New Names" charity foundation.

PERFORMERS:

Ksenia Ovchinnikova, violin;

Emilia Zhukovskaya, violin;

Matvey Rubin, cello;

Lyubov Polubentseva, cello.

Official competition website: https://shpet-konkurs.ru/

Omsk, Organ Hall of the Omsk Philharmonic, February 11, 2026