Adela Liculescu (Romania), Yeon-Min Park (South Korea), and Marcin Wieczorek (Poland) have proceeded through to the Piano Final of the 2020/2021 George Enescu International Competition. The results were announced on Friday evening by the Piano Section Jury, which includes Cristina Ortiz (President of the Jury), Dana Borsan, Hyoung-Joon Chang, Philippe Dinkel, Peter Jablonski, Andrei Pisarev, Roland Pöntinen, Josu de Solaun, and Zhe Tang.
Eight young pianists from seven countries competed in the Semifinal that took place Friday, May 21, at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest: Jack Campbell (Great Britain), Salih Can Gevrek (Turkey), Nikolai Kuznetsov (Russia), Hoyel Lee (South Korea), Adela Liculescu (Romania), Yeon-Min Park (South Korea), Chun Lam U (Hong Kong), and Marcin Wieczorek (Poland).
The jury proceedings have followed a hybrid system: 6 members of the judging panel are in Bucharest and have watched the semifinalists’ recitals live at the Romanian Athenaeum, while 3 others have watched the performances of the young musicians live-streamed online.
Music lovers can tune in for the Piano Final, which will take place Sunday, May 23, at the Romanian Athenaeum, from 6:00 PM (EEST). The finalists will each perform a concerto for piano and orchestra: Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor Op. 23, Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor Op. 30, Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor Op. 11. They will be accompanied by the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of maestro John Axelrod.
Adela Liculescu (b. 1993) currently studies in Vienna with Prof. Avedis Kouyoumdjian and in Graz with Prof. Milana Chernyavska, after graduating from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna with Prof. Martin Hughes. She has performed in concerts and recitals at the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Musikverein Vienna, and Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. She is a laureate of the Prix du Piano Competition in Bern, Brahms International Competitions in Austria and Germany.
Yeon-Min Park (b. 1990) is currently studying in Hanover at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien, in the class of Prof. Bernd Goetzke. Among the mentors who guided her – at National University in Seoul or master’s courses – are Aviram Reichert, Dmitri Bashkirov, Menahem Pressler, and Jacques Rouvier. She has performed as a soloist with the St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestra, Korean Symphony Orchestra, Hanoi Symphony Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra.
The total prize value for the Piano Section is 30,000 EUR, to which is added the privilege of performing on the Enescu Festival stage, as well as special prizes and opportunities for international promotion.
Marcin Wieczorek (b. 1996) currently studies at the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz with Prof. Stefan Wojtas. He is laureate of the Palma d’Oro Competition in San Benedetto del Tronto, the Euregio Piano Competition in Geilenkirchen, the Nuova Coppa Pianists Competition in Osimo. He performed in concerts in the USA, Germany, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland.
The Piano Final at the Athenaeum Hall is sold out. Tickets and subscriptions are available only for the concert stream online and they can be purchased here.
The 2020 George Enescu International Competition has seen its first phase unfold last year, fulfilling the promise to bring Beauty in Life despite the pandemic. The Competition reinvented itself online, marking a premiere in the world of international classical music – the first two rounds were held virtually, to allow the Competition to take place and defy the pandemic. Despite the uncertainty, 205 young artists were able to follow their dream and participate in the Competition between August 29 and September 20, 2020. The last two rounds – Semifinals and Finals – are organized live, in Bucharest, at the Romanian Athenaeum, between 12 and 23 May 2021, with audiences in the hall.
In 2020, the George Enescu International Competition offered much more than music and competition. The message of this edition is Beauty in Life and, in the pandemic context, 2020/2021 George Enescu International Competition has set out to prove that we all have the power to reinvent ourselves while embracing equally beauty and life. In a troubled world, silenced and isolated by the pandemic, we have created a model of resilience based on our longing for beauty in life, vital to our humanity.
The campaign spot is accessible here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxuylvvHHWQ
The Competition’s full Program can be viewed here. All contestants who have taken part in the Semifinals of the three sections are listed on www.festivalenescu.ro, under the Results tab.
George Enescu Competition is an international platform for launching future world-class musicians and for promoting the compositions of the great Romanian composer to the new generation of artists from all over the world. It is thus a natural extension of the George Enescu Festival, the most important cultural event organized in Romania. The Competition has four sections – violin, cello, piano, and composition – and it ranks in the top five classical music competitions worldwide.
