SHANGHAI, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- The final ranking was announced at the Shanghai Isaac Stern International Violin Competition as the three-week-long competition closed Saturday.

Nancy Zhou from the United States took first prize, winning a prize of 100,000 U.S. dollars. Olga Sroubkova from the Czech Republic and Diana Tishchenko from Ukraine were awarded second and third prizes, respectively.

In the final round, all six finalists performed a concerto of their choice and a pointed violin concerto "The Joy of Suffering," written by Chen Qigang, a Chinese-born French composer.

Sroubkova also won the award for the Best Performance of a Chinese Work due for her touching expression of Chen's piece.

Chinese violinists Chen Jiayi and Tang Yun took fourth and sixth positions , respectively, in the final ranking.

"I'm very happy that the expressive level of the Chinese violinists has become much stronger since two years ago. I believe that they have gone a step away from imitating to finding their own way of interpretation," said David Stern, co-chairman of the jury committee.

Founded in 2015 and first held in 2016, the biennial competition is Shanghai's first world-class violin competition. Named after Isaac Stern, one of the first group of foreign musicians visited China in the early days of the reform and opening up, the competition aims to inspire and motivate the younger generation of musicians.

This year, 27 contestants from more than 10 countries and regions performed in the live round in Shanghai after pre-selection, which started on Aug. 10. The competition was also broadcasted on social media and live-streaming platforms, including YouTube and Facebook.