The contestants will perform a 45-minute recital in the second round taking place on 5 and 6 September, with the youngest competitor only 15 years old

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The announcement of the second round © Andrei Gindac

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The cello jury of the George Enescu International Competition has announced 12 cellists that will advance to the second round of the competition, following the first round performances of 49 first-round cellists that took place from 1 to 3 September.

The second round will take place on 5 and 6 September at George Enescu Hall at the National University of Music in Bucharest, Romania. Each contestant will perform a recital of 45 minutes comprising a compulsory piece, a work for solo cello by Kodály, Ligeti, Hindemith, Penderecki or Crumb, plus a work for cello and piano of the candidate’s choice between Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata or either of the two Brahms Cello Sonatas.

The second-round contestants are as follows:

Seohyun Kang (22, South Korea)

Haddon Kay (25, US)

Álvaro Lozano Cames (18, Spain)

Seungyeon Baik (25, South Korea)

Yo Kitamura (20, Japan)

Jean-Baptiste Maizières (27, France)

Michael Wehrmeyer (22, Germany)

Jiayi Liu (22, China)

Jeri Lee (15, South Korea)

Ettore Pagano (21, Italy)

Michael Song (24, Canada)

Jan Sekaci (24, Romania)

The 12 cellists will perform for the chance to perform in the semi-final on 8 September, with the final round to be held on 10 September. The top prize on offer includes €15,000, as well as several special prizes, plus future concert engagements, career guidance and recording opportunities.

Arto Noras presides the jury, which comprises Marin Cazacu, Enrico Dindo, Leonid Gorokhov, Charlotte Lee, Dan Prelipcean, Valentin Răduțiu, Meehae Ryo and Raimun Trenkler.

Previous cello winners in recent years include Benjamin Kruithof, Jaemin Han, Marcel Johannes Kits and Zlatomir Fung.

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