The president of the jury of the Cello Section of the 19th edition of the George Enescu International Competition – maestro Arto Noras – announced the 3 young cellists who will enter the finals of the competition: Haddon Kay (USA, 24 years old), Yo Kitamura (Japan, 20 years old) and Ettore Pagano (Italy, 21 years old).
The finale of the cello section will be accompanied by the National Radio Orchestra, with conductor Jonathan Bloxham at the lectern. The event will take place on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, starting at 18:00, at the Romanian Athenaeum, and will be broadcast LIVE on TVR Cultural, Radio Romania Muzical and also on the contest website – www.concurs.festivalenescu.ro.
Born in 1999, Chinese-American cellist Haddon Kay is a rising star, having already participated in the final rounds of numerous international competitions, including the Chicago Symphony Young Artist Competition. Kay is a founding member of the Galvin Cello Quartet, formed in 2021 at the Bienen School of Music, with which he won the 2022 Victor Elmaleh Competition of the Concert Artists Guild and the Silver Medal at the 2021 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition.
In the finals of the George Enescu International Competition, Haddon Kay will perform Antonín Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104.
Yo Kitamura was born in 2004 and studied with Professor Jens Peter Maintz at the Berlin University of the Arts and with Professor Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi at Toho Gakuen Music High School. He won first prize at the Johannes Brahms International Competition and unanimous first prize at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians Competition.
In the finals of the George Enescu International Competition, Yo Kitamura will also perform Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104.
Born in 2003, Ettore Pagano has won numerous competitions in Italy and abroad, including the Khachaturian International Competition in Yerevan and the Johannes Brahms International Competition. He has already been invited to perform at major international events in Germany, Austria, Greece, and the United States, and in 2022, he released his first CD with Suonare News magazine.
In the finals of the George Enescu International Competition, Ettore Pagano will perform Dmitri Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat major, Op. 107.
The final jury of the section, formed by cellists Arto Noras (President of the jury), Leonid Gorokhov, Meehae Ryo, Valentin Răduţiu, Marin Cazacu, Enrico Dindo and Dan Prelipcean, together with Charlotte Lee – one of the 14 top executive directors in artist management and Raimund Trenkler, cellist and president of the Board of Directors of the Kronberg Academy Foundation, will have the difficult task of judging the final of the competition (the fourth stage of the contest), at the end of which three cash prizes will be offered, their total value being of 30,000 euros: First Prize – 15,000 euros net; Second Prize: 10,000 euros net, Third Prize: 5,000 euros net.
During the final, the Serafim Antropov Award for the best performance of Sonata no. 2 in C major for cello and piano op. 26 by George Enescu in the amount of 3000 euros net, the Award for the best interpretation of the assigned work in the amount of 2000 euros net and the Audience Award in the amount of 1000 euros net.