The cellists each receive $20,000, a New York City recital, and a commissioned work
The finals of the 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition concluded on 20 October, taking place at the Manhattan School of Music’s Neidorff-Karpati Hall in New York City, US. The first prize was jointly awarded to US–Canadian cellist Leland Ko, 26, and US–Danish cellist Jonathan Swensen, 27, each receiving $20,000, a New York City recital, and a commissioned work. The other finalists were US cellists Aaron Wolf, 30, Alexander Hersh, 31, and James Kim, 31, who each received $5,000.
Ko is a graduate of Princeton University in New Jersey, the Juilliard School in New York, and the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he was awarded the Presidential Scholar Award. He has won competitions including the Hong Kong Generation Next Arts International Music Competition and the OSM Competition, and has performed at venues such as Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall. Among Ko’s teachers are Donald Weilerstein, Yeesun Kim, Minhye Clara Kim, Timothy Eddy, Natasha Brofsky, Paul Katz, and Ronald Lowry.
Swensen studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Frederiksberg, with Torleif Thedéen at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, and with Laurence Lesser at the New England Conservatory. He has previously won the Windsor International String Competition, the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, and the Khachaturian International Cello Competition. Swensen was also the 2022 recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant.
The competition was hosted by the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, established by banker and amateur cellist Walter Naumburg in 1926, which aims to assist gifted young musicians in America. The foundation will host its International Chamber Music Competition in 2025, and its International Violin Competition in 2026.
This year’s jury comprised Thomas Demenga, Steven Doane, Clive Greensmith, Bonnie Hampton, Joel Krosnick, Nicholas Mann, Philippe Muller and Hannah Roberts, with David Geber as chair of the jury.
Read: Violinist and cellist amongst recipients of 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grants
Read: 2024 Concert Artists Guild Competition Winners Announced
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