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.
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]
Cello, Violin and Piano prizes:[4]
Composition prizes:
| 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 |
| Year | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Ştefan Ruha Semen Snitkovski (tie) | Varujan Cozighian | Evgheni Smirnov Ralph Holmes
| |
| 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 | |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |