The Michael Hill International Violin Competition will be held between 3-11 June 2011 in New Zealand.  Semi-finalists' arrival date in Queenstown is 30 May 2011.

The Competition is open to violinists of all nationalities born after 3 June 1983 and before 3 June 1993.

The Competition is held in five stages:

Selection	Applications due 30 November 2010
Round I and II	Queenstown, 4-6 June 2011, solo and unaccompanied works
Round III	Auckland, 8-9 June 2011, piano trios
Finals	Auckland, 11 June 2011, concerti

             
All semi-finalists play Rounds I and II (no elimination); 6 semi-finalists progress to Round III, 3 finalists progress to the Finals.  It is a requirement of the Competition that all semi-finalists remain in attendance of the Competition through the Finals even if they are no longer competing.

A panel of violinists from Australasia's leading performing and educational institutions carry out the Selection Round and select the 18 semi-finalists and 6 alternates. They also determine the recipients of the NZ and Australian Development Prizes. Identities of all applicants are not revealed to the panel until they have determined the results.

An international jury comprised of seven violinists assess the semi-finalists' performances from Round I through the Finals and determine the prize winners.  The jury is chaired by a separate non-voting chairman.  All advertised prizes will be announced.

All live rounds are open to the general public are recorded for live and delayed broadcast throughout New Zealand by Radio NZ Concert and internationally through the European Broadcasting Union or similar international broadcasting programmes.  Videos of all live rounds are available for viewing over the internet.

All semi-finalists are provided with one round trip economy-class air ticket from the nearest major international airport in his/her country of residence to Queenstown and Auckland, and must comply with the Competition's Rules and Regulations regarding ticket issue. (European originating cities are Paris, Frankfurt and London only.)  

All semi-finalists are provided with accommodation in private homes with private rehearsal facilities during the live rounds. 

The Competition provides accompanists and collaborating artists of the highest caliber for all live rounds at no expense to the semi-finalists.

All semi-finalists are encouraged to participate in the Competition's Professional Development activities including masterclasses led by jury members, schools outreach activities, and professional workshops on the topics of branding and international tax.