The “Play with Ray” competition revealed its winner, Laura Kukkonen of Helsinki, Finland, in an announcement by international prize-winning violinist Ray Chen before she joined him at the Hollywood Bowl to perform the first movement of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, led by Ben Gernon, on Thursday, Aug. 8.

Chen, who’s worked with orchestras around the world, including the London Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic and the Filarmonica della Scala, has been involved in online series like “Mozart in the Jungle,” performing for France’s Bastille Day to 800,000 people and for engaging with his audience on social media.

The runners-up, Adriana Bec, age 13, of San Antonio and Youngji Kim, age 22, of Daegu, South Korea, performed with the LA Phil first violins.

A panel of judges narrowed down the submissions to the three finalists. All three were flown to Los Angeles and, in the days leading up to the concert, received coaching and attended masterclasses and concerts with Chen. They were also able to practice on rare violins from Tarisio, the leading international purveyor of fine instruments and bows, which provided a 1775 Guadagnini violin for Kukkonen’s performance.

The international skills-based competition began in late March. More than 800 people, ranging in ages from 6 to 76, from 73 countries and six continents submitted videos of themselves performing alongside a video of Chen provided by the LA Phil.

The final decision came down to Chen, who conceived of the idea for the competition years ago.

“There are not enough words to describe how thankful I am for this experience,” Kukkonen said. “Getting a masterclass from Ray, playing on Guadagninis [violins], doing extra activities, making new friends and finally performing with the outstanding professionals at the Hollywood Bowl all of these are a dream come true and even more. This opportunity shows rare kindness and generosity which we often lack these days.”

“This competition has been an amazing experience,” said Chen, “The partnership with the LA Phil at the Hollywood Bowl brought my dream to life of being able to provide people around the world a fun and unique opportunity, and to have a little something extra to practice for. All of these young women are immensely talented musicians and I predict bright futures for all of them.”

For information, visit playwithray.la.