George Enescu International Competition

The George Enescu International Competition is a music competition for young pianists, violinists, cellists and composers, that takes place in Bucharest, Romania. It has helped launch the careers of many musicians, and among its list of first-prize winners are legendary pianists such as Radu Lupu, the winner in the 1967 edition.[1] Other winners include Spanish pianist Josu De Solaun Soto, Russian pianists Elisabeth Leonskaja, in 1964, and Dmitri Alexeev, in 1970.[1]

The Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, Romania, serves as one of the main venues in the George Enescu International Piano Competition.

Overview

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The competition started in 1958, as part of the George Enescu Festival, and celebrated its first five editions (1958, 1961, 1964, 1967, and 1970) in what was then the Socialist Republic of Romania. It was considered, by the countries of the Eastern Bloc, one of the most prestigious music competitions. Jury members included famous musicians such as Claudio Arrau, Nadia Boulanger, Arthur Rubinstein, Magda Tagliaferro, Guido Agosti, Florica Musicescu, Dmitri Bashkirov, Carlo Zecchi, and Lazar Berman. Probably because of financial circumstances during Ceausescu's dictatorship, the competition was abandoned in 1970, though it resumed twenty-one years later.[2]

The competition is a member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions in Geneva.

The competition and prize-giving ceremony has historically taken place in the Romanian Athenaeum, with the mayor always traditionally attending.[3]

Prize money

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As of 2020 Cello, Violin and Piano prizes:[4]

  • First prize – €15.000
  • Second prize – €10.000
  • Third prize – €5.000

Composition prizes:

  • Prize for symphonic music section – €10.000
  • Chamber music section – €7.000
  • Prize for originality – €5.000;

Winners

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Piano section

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Top prize piano winners since the foundation of the competition in 1958
Year 1st 2nd 3rd
1958   Ming-Qiang Li   Michèle Boegner

  Mikhail Voskresensky (tie)

  Dmitry Paperno
1961 Not awarded   Arie Vardi

  Théodore Paraskivesco (tie)

  Hong Teng
1964   Elisabeth Leonskaja   André Gorog   Gabriel Amiras
1967   Radu Lupu

  Samvel Alumyan (tie)

  Dan Grigore   Anatol Ugorski
1970   Dmitri Alexeev   Mack McCray   Radu Toescu
1991   Daniel Goiți   Viniciu Moroianu   Luiza Borac
1999 Not awarded Not awarded Not awarded
2001   Diana Ionescu   Matei Varga   Maria-Magdalena Pitu-Jokisch
2003   Ilona Timchenko Not awarded   Razvan Dragnea

  Evgeny Starodubtsev (tie)

2005   Irina Zahharenkova   Evgeny Izotov   Aimo Pagin
2007   Eduard Kunz   Evgeny Cherepanov   Christopher Falzone
2009   Amir Tebenikhin   Violetta Kachikian   Jongdo An
2011 Not awarded   Jeung-Beum Sohn   Mihai Ritivoiu

  Ilya Poletaev (tie)

2014   Josu de Solaun Soto[5][6][7]   Ilya Rashkovsky   Vassilis Varvaresos
2016   Victoria Vassilenko   Takuma Ishii   Danor Quinteros
2018   Daria Parkhomenko   Daumants Liepins   Alexander Panfilov
2020   Yeon-Min Park   Adela Liculescu   Marcin Wieczorek
2022   Alexandra Segal   George Todica   Chun Lam U
2024   Roman Lopatynskyi   Tatiana Dorokhova   Evgeny Konnov

Violin section

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Top prize violin winners since the foundation of the competition in 1958
Year 1st 2nd 3rd
1958   Ştefan Ruha

  Semen Snitkovski (tie)

  Varujan Cozighian   Evgheni Smirnov

  Ralph Holmes

  Daniel Podlovski (tie)

1961   Nina Beilina   Daniel Podlovski   Igor Frolov
1964   Claire Bernard   Alexander Melnicov   Varujan Cozighian
1967   Zinovie Vinnikov   Bogodar Kotorovici   Mariana Sârbu
1970   Silvia Marcovici   Ruben Agaronian   Philippe Hirschhorn
1991   Dan Claudiu Vornicelu   Axel Strauss   Bogdan Marius Zvorişteanu
1999   Alexandru Tomescu   George Cosmin Bănică

  Remus Azoiţei (tie)

Not awarded
2001   Nemanja Radulovic   George Cosmin Bănică   Ştefan Horvath
2003   Eugen Ţichindeleanu   George Cosmin Bănică   Nurit Stark

  Saeys Frederieke (tie)

2005   Valeriy Sokolov   Szalai Antal   George Cosmin Bănică
2007   Anna Tifu   Chun Harim   Vald Stănculeasa
2009   Jarosław Nadrzycki   Shin A-Rah   Palitsyna Nadezda
2011 Not awarded   Haik Kazazyan

  Alexandra Conunova (tie)

  Szalai Antal
2014    Ştefan Tarara   Feodor Rudin   Wonhee Bae
2016   Gyehee Kim   Donghyun Kim   Erzhan Kulibaev
2018 Not awarded   Vikram Sedona   Giuseppe Gibboni
2020/21   Valentine Şerban   Jaewon Wee   Tassilo Probst
2022   Maria Marica   Ştefan Aprodul   Gregorie Torossian

Cello section

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Top prize cello winners since 2011
Year 1st 2nd 3rd
2011   Tian Bonian   Valentin Răduțiu   Michal Korman
2014   Eun-Sun Hong   Tony Rymer   Sarah Rommel
2016    Zlatomir Fung   Anastasia Kobekina   Mon Pue-Lee
2018   Marcel Johannes Kits   Yibai Chen   Stanislas Kim
2022   Jaemin Han   Sebastian Fritsch   Ştefan Cazacu
2022   Benjamin Kruithof    Constantin Borodin   Constantin Siepermann

Composition

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Composition prize winners for Symphonic and Chamber Music since 1991
Year Symphonic Music Chamber Music
1991   Dan Dediu   Massim Trotta

  Michael Smetanin

2003   Oliver Waespi   Diana Rotaru

  Vlad Maistorovici

2005   Diana Rotaru

  David Philip Hefti

  Maria Ungueranu

  Kim Young-Guk

2007   Sakai Kenji   Megyery Kristina
2009   Lam Lan-Chee   Qian Shen-Ying
2011   Chang Eunho   Kwang-Ho Cho
2014   Sebastian Androne   Alexandru Murariu
2016   Tian Tian   Caterina Di Cecca
2018   Alexandru Murariu   Jung Hoon Ham
2020/21   Karlo Margetic   Young Jae Cho
2022   Shin Kim   Leonardo Marino
2024   Alexander Voltz   Daniele Di Virgilio

References

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  1. ^ a b "Enescu Competition extends application deadline to 1 May 2020". Rhinegold. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  2. ^ Moldovan, Tania Aniela (2015). The Modern Romanian Violin School: An Analytical Introduction to Manual De Vioara by Ionel Geanta and George Manoliu (PhD). Florida State University. p. 17. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  3. ^ "2020 George Enescu International Competition Online Announces 3 Winners in Composition and 8 Piano Semifinalists". George Enescu Festival. 20 September 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Guide to the 2020 George Enescu International Competition". Bachtrack. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Sam Houston State Artist/Teacher Josu De Solaun Wins International Piano Competition". Fat Cat New Media. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Spanish pianist Josu de Solaun wins the 2014 Enescu Competition". Business Review. 29 September 2014. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  7. ^ Cerban, Madalina (28 September 2014). "Pianistul spaniol Josu de Solaun a câştigat secţiunea Pian a Concursului Enescu 2014". Mediafax.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 21 September 2020.
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