George Enescu International Competition Explained

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.

Overview

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

Cello, Violin and Piano prizes:[4]

Composition prizes:

Winners

Piano section

Top prize piano winners since the foundation of the competition in 1958
Year1st2nd3rd
1958 Ming-Qiang Li Michèle Boegner Mikhail Voskresensky (tie) Dmitry Paperno
1961Not 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
1999Not awardedNot awardedNot awarded
2001 Diana Ionescu Matei Varga Maria-Magdalena Pitu-Jokisch
2003 Ilona TimchenkoNot 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
2011Not 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

Violin section

Top prize violin winners since the foundation of the competition in 1958
Year1st2nd3rd
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 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
2011Not awarded Haik Kazazyan Alexandra Conunova (tie) Szalai Antal
2014 Ştefan Tarara Feodor Rudin Wonhee Bae
2016 Gyehee Kim Donghyun Kim Erzhan Kulibaev
2018Not awarded Vikram Sedona Giuseppe Gibboni
2020/21 Valentine Şerban Jaewon Wee Tassilo Probst
2022 Maria Marica Ştefan Aprodul Gregorie Torossian

Cello section

Top prize cello winners since 2011
Year1st2nd3rd
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

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

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Enescu Competition extends application deadline to 1 May 2020 . Rhinegold . 22 April 2020 . 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 . 17 . Florida State University . 21 September 2020.
  3. Web site: 2020 George Enescu International Competition Online Announces 3 Winners in Composition and 8 Piano Semifinalists . George Enescu Festival . 20 September 2020 . 21 September 2020 .
  4. Web site: Guide to the 2020 George Enescu International Competition . Bachtrack . 31 January 2020 . 21 September 2020.
  5. Web site: Sam Houston State Artist/Teacher Josu De Solaun Wins International Piano Competition . Fat Cat New Media . 1 October 2014 . 21 September 2020.
  6. Web site: Spanish pianist Josu de Solaun wins the 2014 Enescu Competition . Business Review . 29 September 2014 . 21 September 2020.
  7. Web site: Cerban . Madalina . Pianistul spaniol Josu de Solaun a câştigat secţiunea Pian a Concursului Enescu 2014 . Mediafax.ro . 28 September 2014 . ro . 21 September 2020.