George Enescu International Competition announces violin finalists

Read more news stories here

Following the violin semi-finals of the George Enescu International Competition at Bucharest’s Romanian Athenaeum on Saturday 14 September, the following three violinists will proceed to the final: Japanese violinist Wakana Kimura, 23; US violinist Mayumi Kanagawa, 30; and South Korean violinist Hyeonjeong Lee, 13.

The final will take place at the Romanian Athenaeum on Monday 16 September beginning at 18:00. Each of the three competitors will perform a concerto with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Alan Buribayev: Bartók’s Violin Concerto no. 2 (Kimura), Saint-Saëns’ Violin Concerto No. 3 (Kanagawa) and the Brahms Violin Concerto (Lee).

The finalists are competing  for a €15,000 net top prize. Special prizes include the Stefan and Valentin Gheorghiu Prize for the best performance of a George Enescu Sonata (€3,000 net), a prize offered by the Purcari Winery for the highest ranked competitor from the Republic of Moldova (€2,000 gross), a prize for the best performance of the mandatory work (€2,000 net) and the Audience Award (€1,000 net). The second prize is €10,000 net and third prize is €5,000 net. 

Japanese violinist Wakana Kimura studies violin with Lothar Strauss and chamber music with Stefan Mendl at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. She is a first prize winner at the 2019 Forum Musikae International Academy Competition, a second prize winner at the 2022 International Violin Competition Premio Rodolfo Lipizer and a first prize winner at the 2023 Stefanie Hohl Competition, among others.

US violinist Mayumi Kanagawa is a Japanese-American violinist based in Berlin and is currently an ambassador for El Sistema Japan’s new Ribbon project, bringing instruments and music education to children in the foster care system. She  performs on the 1725 ‘Wilhelmj’ Antonio Stradivari violin, generously loaned by the Nippon Music Foundation.

South Korean violinist Hyeonjeong Lee studies with Sunny Lee at the Seoul Central Conservatory. She was the youngest person to win first prize in the 2022 Leonid Kogan International Competition for Young Violinists. In the same year, she also won the overall grand prize and a scholarship at the Rising Stars Grand Prix International Music Competition Berlin.

The president of the jury is Dmitry Sitkovetsky. He is joined by Mihaela Martin, Liviu Prunaru, Silvia Marcovici, Shlomo Mintz, Boris Garlitsky, David Halen, Doug Sheldon and Didier de Cottignies.

The competition will be streamed live on the George Enescu Festival website here.