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Festival
George Enescu International Competition 2026
The 20th edition of the George Enescu International Competition has officially been launched. Registrations for the instrumental sections, violin, piano, and cello, are open until May 10, 2026, while applications for the Composition section will be accepted until June 30, 2026.
The 2026 edition reaffirms the core values that defined George Enescu’s life and work. Its four sections, violin, piano, cello, and composition, reflect the breadth of Enescu’s artistic legacy and creative vision.
A key new feature of this edition is the introduction of a Composition Masterclass, expanding the masterclass program initiated in 2024, which also includes Conducting, Instrumental Performance, and Advanced Music Study. All masterclasses are led by Maestro Cristian Măcelaru, Artistic Director of the George Enescu International Festival and Competition.
The competition’s motto, “In the Pursuit of Excellence,” encapsulates Enescu’s enduring philosophy, emphasizing dedication, authenticity, and artistic truth. Held biennially in Bucharest, the competition brings together outstanding young musicians from around the world and is guided by an internationally renowned jury.
Participants benefit from high-profile performance opportunities, including semi-finals and finals at the Romanian Athenaeum, broadcast live, as well as prestigious prizes such as engagements at the following edition of the George Enescu International Festival.
Festival
The Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition 2026, taking place from 21 February to 1 March, stands as a carefully curated proving ground for pianists already navigating the transition from academic distinction to sustained international visibility. Conceived within the broader artistic framework of Ljubljana Festival, the competition prioritises interpretative integrity and stylistic literacy over purely virtuosic display, structuring its three live rounds to reflect the multidimensional demands of a contemporary concert career.
Following a selective preliminary video stage, thirty pianists from across the global performance landscape advance to Ljubljana for Round I, where Classical-era structural awareness is foregrounded through the mandatory inclusion of a Beethoven sonata. Round II expands the expressive spectrum with repertoire spanning the Romantic canon and twentieth-century idioms, effectively testing each competitor’s capacity for aesthetic contrast, architectural thinking and tonal imagination.
The Final Round introduces an essential collaborative dimension: six finalists perform a concerto with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Ricardo Castro, shifting evaluative emphasis toward orchestral dialogue, balance and large-scale formal pacing. In this context, the competition’s principal award – the €50,000 City of Ljubljana Prize – is complemented by engagement opportunities that embed laureates within an international network of festivals and concert platforms.
Chaired by Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak, the international jury also recognises exceptional performances of Slovene repertoire, reinforcing the competition’s role in situating emerging pianists within both global and local artistic narratives.