The biennial competition, being held in June 2011, will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year and is expected to attract entries from a wide array of nationalities before the November 30 close-off date.
Open to 18- to 28-year-olds from around the world, the last competition saw entries from 30 different nationalities. Josef Spacek (23), of the Czech Republic, won the 2009 competition.
Competition Director Anne Rodda said the competition "absolutely propels" a young, unknown violinist on to the international stage.
"It really is a coveted title that offers unprecedented opportunities and exposure, hence we're anticipating the competition to be fiercer than ever for 2011."
New Zealand violinists Dimitri Atanassov, Justine Cormack and Vesa-Matti Leppanen will be joined by their colleagues from Australia, Wilma Smith and Goetz Richter, in December to select 18 semifinalists from more than 100 audition tapes.
The semifinalists will be flown to New Zealand next year.
The panel would also be determining the winners of the New Zealand and Australian development prizes.
The judges for the 2011 competition include Michael Dauth (Australia-Germany), Boris Garlitsky (Russia-United Kingdom), Philippe Graffin (France), Cho-Liang Lin (Taiwan-United States), Tasmin Little (United Kingdom), Vesa-Matti Leppanen (New Zealand-Finland), Lara St John (Canada) and Dr Robin Congreve, chairman of the jury (New Zealand).
The 2011 competition would also showcase the "astounding" talents of collaborating pianists Michael Houstoun (New Zealand), Deidre Irons (Canada-New Zealand) and Sarah Watkins (New Zealand), composer John Psathas (New Zealand), cellist Ashley Brown (New Zealand) and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra.
The professional development prize would be an addition to the prize pool, sponsored by Hotel de Brett and McCann Worldgroup, Michael Hill, Villa Maria, The British Council and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Mr Hill, the founding trustee of the competition, said he was excited about the expanded prize pool for next year.
"How exciting it is to be able to extend such an amazing prize to these young talented musicians at what is a pivotal moment in their music careers."
