“Participants in the 2026 IVCI will be required perform a new work by Grammy Award-winning composer, violinist and educator Jessie Montgomery. A graduate of The Juilliard School and New York University, Montgomery served as Mead Composer-in-Residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 2021 to 2024 and currently serves on the faculty of Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music.

‘I am absolutely thrilled to be composing a new work for the Indianapolis Violin Competition Semi-Finals this year,’ Montgomery said. ‘It is an honor to continue the legacy of impactful composers in service of our country’s most outstanding showcase of talented violinists. I take on this work with profound admiration for competitors of the past, present and future, and look forward to hearing the music come alive through various interpretations.'”