A 22-year-old woman from Latvia has been named a laureate in the 2009 Queen Elisabeth violin competition held in Belgium.

Vineta Sareika, who hails from Jūrmala, was chosen as one of six unnamed laureates out of 12 finalists in the competition. The first prize winner was Ray Chen of Australia.

Sareika is a graduate of the CNSM (Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris) in France, and since 2006 has continued her studies at the Queen Elisabeth College of Music in Waterloo, Belgium. As a member of the Dali Piano Trio, Sareika has won awards at several music competitions, including first prize in the 2008 Osaka Competition in Japan.

Her performances include concerts with the national orchestras in Belgium and Latvia, with orchestras in Poland and Portugal, and in venues around the world.

Sareika was one of 83 violinists entered in the Queen Elisabeth Competition. As one of 12 finalists, she performed during the week of May 25-30 in the Brussels Centre for Fine Arts. All finalists had to perform a sonata for violin and piano, a concerto, and the work named the winner of the 2008 Queen Elisabeth composition competition.

As a laureate, Sareika is to receive a cash award of EUR 4,000 and will perform a recital.