Augustin Hadelich is the most recent torchbearer for the prestige of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.

Born to German parents in Italy 26 years ago, he followed up his 2006 win here with the significant boost of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2009.

The Juilliard-trained violinist finds it especially fitting that an American prize gave him the opportunity to launch his career here.

"I never lived much in Germany, and I grew up in Italy, so I wasn't really well-known when things started happening here," he said. "I feel at home now."

And yet he's not at home much in his New York apartment: He's busy pursuing concert opportunities on three continents since his victory here four years ago.

As he travels, Hadelich says, he's looking forward to the IVCI growing in international stature. "It's known in the world of violinists, but in the music world at large, they may have heard of the Indy 500, but they don't make the necessary connection because they don't know the back story of Josef Gingold and this competition."

Gingold, the founder of the IVCI through his prestigious teaching position at Indiana University, long had a worldwide reputation as both a superb concertmaster and a spellbinding concert violinist. But his eminence as a teacher crowned his long career.

Hadelich remembers his preparation for the 2006 contest as being especially useful and rigorous. "It forces you to get so much music ready at once and within a short time. In that sense, that helps you when you travel as a violinist: You figure out the best way to prepare for concerts."

Previous competitions helped Hadelich dispel the idea that getting ready to compete would be the same as preparing for performances for audiences that didn't include professional juries.

"It was actually a lot more different," he said. "In Indianapolis, they tried to make it as easy for us as possible to play our best. But, ultimately, it's not going to feel like a holiday."

He praised the smooth organization of IVCI and the friendly atmosphere. "As there are so many things that have to come together," Hadelich said of music competitions, "when they don't, it can make it even harder."

With all that past him, Hadelich will experience the IVCI version of Hoosier hospitality all over again when he plays a recital with pianist Rohan de Silva on Sept. 21 (one of only two noncompetition days in the Sept. 10-26 span of IVCI) at the DeHaan Fine Arts Center on the campus of the University of Indianapolis.