Alexandra Segal is the winning pianist of the George Enescu International Competition 2022
The winner of the piano section, and runners-up, as well as the most interesting original compositions, were awarded at the gala marking the end of a memorable edition of the George Enescu International Competition 2022 on Sunday, September 18.
Alexandra Segal, representing Israel, won the George Enescu International Competition 2022 - Piano Section, after a final in which she performed Sergei Prokofiev's Concerto No. 3 in C major for piano and orchestra op. 26, conducted by Kensho Watanabe.
Second and third prizes were awarded to pianists George Todică from Romania, and Chun Lam U from China.
The prize in the Symphonic Music category was won by Shin Kim, with Symphony No. 1 - Consolations. In the Chamber Music category, the prize went to Leonardo Marino for his composition Il deserto del senza tempo. And the prize for Originality, an award given for the first time this year, went to Bartosz Jawor for Prayers.
Additionally, the best-ranked Romanian pianist, George Todica, received a prize awarded by the Erbiceanu Cultural Foundation, worth EUR 2,500, the Constanța Erbiceanu Prize.
The first prize of the George Enescu 2022 International Competition is worth EUR 15,000, the second prize EUR 10,000, and the third prize EUR 5,000. The winner of the 2022 Enescu Competition will also have the opportunity to perform in the 2023 and 2024 editions of the George Enescu International Festival and Competition, as well as in concerts organized during the Romanian Philharmonic seasons.
Short biographies of the piano section winners:
Alexandra Segal represents Israel and was born in Kiev, Ukraine in 1995. She is currently studying at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz with Prof. Milana Chernyavska.
She won 3rd prize at the Medici International Music Competition (2021), 3rd prize at the Chicago International Music Competition (2020), 1st prize at the Piano Forever Competition (2017, Israel), 1st prize at the Arianne Katcz Piano Competition (2017), 1st prize at the Pnina Salzman Competition for Young Pianists (2017), 3rd prize at the Riga International Piano Competition (2012), and 1st prize at the Crimean Spring International Piano Competition (2010).
She has performed as a soloist with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Haifa Symphony Orchestra, Kiev Chamber Orchestra, Donetsk Philharmonic Orchestra, Raanana Symphonette and Buchmann-Mehta School of Music Symphony Orchestra under conductors such as Vag Papian, Avi Ostrowsky, Yoav Talmi and Guy Feder.
George Todică is from Romania and obtained his Artist Diploma at the Royal College of Music in London in 2019 under the guidance of Norma Fisher, after completing his Master's degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in 2017.
He made his debut at the Wigmore Hall in October 2018 as a Tillett Trust Young Artist, and has won 1st prize at the Royal Over-Seas League Keyboard Prize (2022), Norah Sande Award in England, Stefano Marizza Piano Competition in Italy, Moray Piano Competition, Scotland, Llangollen International Piano Festival, 2nd prize at the International Piano Campus Competition in France, and 3rd prize at the Istanbul International Piano Competition.
In the field of chamber music, George frequently collaborates with soprano Charlotte Hoather, with whom he has recorded 4 albums, and is a member of the Chloé Piano Trio with violinist Maria Gîlicel and cellist Jobine Siekman.
George Todică made his orchestral debut at the age of 14 with the Filarmonica Moldova in Iasi and has performed as soloist with the New Edinburgh Orchestra, Istanbul Orchestra'Sion, Cambridge Graduate Orchestra, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Chamber Orchestra, Cergy-Pontoise Orchestra, Paris, Learig Orchestra, and Stewart's Melville College Orchestra.
Chun Lam U is from Hong Kong, China, and was born in 2002. He is currently studying at Oberlin Conservatory with Prof. Dang Thai Son.
His achievements include prizes at the Steinway & Sons International Youth Piano Competition in China, the Chopin International Piano Competition in Asia, the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians, the Hanoi International Piano Competition, the Van Cliburn Junior Piano Competition, and the Ettlingen International Competition for Young Pianists.
Chun Lam has collaborated with the Salzburg Chamber Soloists, the Vietnam Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Youth Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of conductors Lavard Skou-Larsen and David Gómez Ramírez.
The 18th edition of the George Enescu International Competition took place in Bucharest from September 4 to 18.
For more details, visit the official website.
(Photo source: George Enescu International Festival & Competition)
