Yoo Jin Jang (18), Danbi Um (19) and Dami Kim (20) of Korea, Tessa Lark (20) and David McCarroll (23) of the United States, and Josef Spacek (22) of the Czech Republic, passed the contest's latest elimination round at the Queenstown Memorial Hall on Saturday night.
The prize for the best performance of the New Zealand commission work, titled Wakatipu, was won by Yoo Jin Jang.
Miss Jang said she had seen the beauty of Lake Wakatipu while in Queenstown.
"I saw the rhythmical movements of the lake and the scale of the mountains and I felt a lot of passion. That's why I have enjoyed [the piece]."
Dr Robin Congreve, chairman of the jury, said anyone who picked up a violin was a custodian of a great tradition.
"When I hear the standard of the 18 semifinalists I think that tradition is in good hands."
Dr Congreve told the dozen violinists who would not be travelling with the competition to Auckland that it was not the only way to be successful.
"The real worth of the competition is getting here to this point in your life."
Competition founder Michael Hill said the standard of musicianship was extremely high, which was why the judges took extra time to deliberate.
"The beauty of music is everyone reads the same language and it brings people and countries together in harmony, here in Queenstown.
We're at the bottom of the world, but I think we're at the top."
The announcement was the culmination of two semifinal rounds in the Queenstown Memorial Hall last Thursday and Friday.
From a field representing 30 nationalities who entered the biennial competition in December, 18 semifinalists aged between 18 and 28 years performed programmes of solo and piano-accompanied works for seven international judges.
The top six perform in the Auckland Town Hall tonight and tomorrow, with cellist Ashley Brown and pianist Michael Houstoun.
The top three will go to the final round in the Auckland Town Hall and will be accompanied by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra on Thursday evening.
