THE world famous Windsor Festival International String Competition returns this March with a prize-fund of over £20,000.

The seventh biennial competition will launch the international career of one successful violinist, violist or cellist.

The competition has grown in recent years and has now expanded to include 12 semi-finalists selected from 192 applicants from 45 countries worldwide.

The final – taking place on Friday, March 29 in the Waterloo Chamber, Windsor Castle – will see the top three contest for the coveted award.

The semi-finalists for 2019 feature prize-winners and laureates of many of the best-known international competitions.

The talented musicians come from Turkey, Switzerland, Holland, Britain, the US, South Korea, Denmark and Mexico.

They are all aged between 22 and 26.

Five will play the cello and seven the violin.

The competition was inaugurated in 2008.

The 2019 competition takes place between March 23 and 29. Outreach remains a strong focus of the competition with each of the eight semi-finalists visiting, talking to and playing to schools in the locality during their stay in Windsor.

This gives the competitors the opportunity to develop their own confidence in reaching out to the audience of the future and also gives local children unique access to string playing of an international level.

Details on the successful semi-finalists may be found on https://windsorfestival.com/international-string-competitionhttp://www.wfinternationalstringcompetition.com