A total of 34 young musicians have passed the first stage of the George Enescu International Competition and are on to the semi-finals, which will take place in September at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.

The competition, now in its 18th edition, will open on September 4 on the stage of the Romanian Athenaeum, where a Gala Concert will be performed by the George Enescu Philharmonic, conducted by maestro Peter Ruzicka, followed by a performance put on by the three of winners of the previous edition’s instrument sections. The philharmonic will be premiering the piece that won last year’s Composition Section for Symphonic Music: An Axe For The Frozen Sea by Karlo Margetic. While the winning threesome will be performing the Triple Concerto for violin, cello, and piano by Ludwig van Beethoven.

According to the organizers, the competition functions as an international launching platform for future musicians and to promote George Enescu’s compositions among the new generation of artists around the world, thus being a natural complement to the George Enescu Festival.

The 18th edition of the George Enescu International Competition is split into four dedicated sections: cello, violin, piano, and composition, and takes place in three stages, both live and online.

Initially, there were 26 entries in the cello section, 21 in the violin section, 39 in the piano section, and 22 orchestral and chamber works entered in the composition section. The youngest competitor in the 2022 edition was a 13-year-old cellist, and the average age of applicants is 25.

The first stage of the competition took place online in May, as jury members analyzed the video recordings sent in by the contestants. For the first time in the history of the Competition, the competitors who passed the online stage entered the Semifinals directly.

In the cello section, 11 young musicians qualified for the Semifinals. In alphabetical order, they are Sofia Blându (Romania), Constantin Borodin (Moldova / Romania), Maria-Izabela Ghergu (Romania), Goeunsol Heo (South Korea), Jisoo Kim (South Korea), Benjamin Kruithof (Luxembourg), Jiaqi Liu (China), Constantin Siepermann (Germany), Francesco Stefanelli (San Marino), Ileana Waldenmayer (Italy) and Aihao Zheng (China).

The Cello Semifinal will take place on September 5 and 6 at the Romanian Athenaeum, in Bucharest, and will include Sonata no. 2 in C major for Cello and Piano Op. 26 by George Enescu. The Final will be on Thursday, September 8.

In the violin section, 12 young musicians qualified for the Semifinals. In alphabetical order, they are Stefan Aprodu (Romania), Takamori Arai (Japan), Kristina Besman (Russia), Heidi Hatch (Spain), Andrea Hughes (USA), Yoko Ishikura (Japan), Maria Marica (Romania), Joanna Ruseva (Bulgaria), Reika Sakamoto (Japan), Christian Sebastianutto (Italy), Ming-Chun Teng (Taiwan, China) and Grégoire Torossian (France).

The Violin Semifinal will take place on September 10 and 11 at the Romanian Athenaeum, in Bucharest. The program includes representative works from Enescu’s creation for violin: Sonata no. 2 for piano and violin in F minor op. 6, Sonata no. 3 for piano and violin in A minor op. 25 “Dans le caractère populaire roumain” and Suite for violin and piano op. 28 “Impressions d’enfance”. The Final will be on Tuesday, September 13.

In the piano section, 11 young musicians qualified for the Piano Semifinal of the 2022 George Enescu International Competition. In alphabetical order, they are Robert Bily (Germany), Michelle Candotti (Italy), Antonio Chen Guang (China), Timofey Dolya (Russia), Eva Garet (Romania), Ryunosuke Kishimoto (Japan), Minsung Lee (South Korea), Alexandra Segal (Israel), George Todică (Romania), Daria Ioana Tudor (Romania) and Chun Lam U (Hong Kong, China).

The Piano Semifinal will take place on September 15 and 16 at the Romanian Athenaeum, in Bucharest. The program includes some of Enescu’s most important piano works: Suite no. 2 in D major op. 10, Sonata no. 1 in F sharp minor op. 24, and Sonata no. 3 in D major op. 24. The Final will be held on Sunday, September 18.

The Competition’s Finals will be accompanied by the George Enescu Philharmonic and will be conducted by renowned musicians on the international scene.

Wilson Hermanto, Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra Cameristi Della Scala, will be conducting the final performance of the violin section. Tito Muñoz, Musical Director of the Phoenix Symphony, will be conducting the final performance of the cello section. And maestro Kensho Watanabe will be conducting the final performance of the piano section.

Besides the competition performances, other recitals will be held at the Romanian Athenaeum by the members of the international jury invited this year, all renowned international classical musicians, and the three winners of the 2021 edition.

The total value of the prizes is EUR 120,000 and includes the services of leading arts management company Askonas Holt which will provide career advice and mentoring sessions to the winners.

Winning first place at the 2022 Enescu Competition is the ticket to the 2023 George Enescu International Festival – the most talented contestants will have the opportunity of performing in the next edition of the Festival.

Tickets to the events in the Competition will be going on sale on July 7, with prices ranging from RON 90 to RON 130 (EUR 18-26).

Audience access to the Athenaeum will be granted on the presentation of an identity document and one of the following: official proof of vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 (with a minimum of 10 days passed since completing the vaccination plan), negative PCR result to a test taken within 72 hours before the concert, or negative result of a rapid antigen test certified by a medical unit, taken within 24 hours before the concert. Masks are also required. 

maia@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Enescu Competition / Photo by Alex Damian)