Each evening this week in Brussels from 25 to 30 May, the twelve finalists will present their performances of the competition’s imposed work and a concerto of their choice
The final round of the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Cello Competition will be held this week, from 25 to 30 May. Each evening at 20:15 will see two contestants present their final performances at Salle Henry Le Boeuf (Centre for Fine Arts) in Brussels, accompanied by the Belgian National Orchestra, under the baton of Antony Hermus.
The twelve finalists will each have spent a week in solitude at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel learning the competition’s imposed concerto. This year’s work is by Fang Man, called Four Odes to the Tidings of Flowers. Each cellist will also play a concerto of their own choice, and this year, we will hear four renditions of Shostakovich Cello Concerto no.1 and three performances of Prokofiev’s Sinfonia concertante op.125.
There will be two renditions of Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain, plus single performances each of the cello concertos by Dvořák, Barber and Lutosławski.
The results of the competition will be announced following the performances late on 30 May. Notably this year, the first laureate will receive a four-year loan of the 1733 ‘Casals’ Gofriller cello, courtesy of the Pau Casals Foundation.
The top prizewinner will receive the Queen Mathilde Prize of €25,000, with prizes of €20,000, €17,000, €12,500, €10,000 and €8,000 for second to sixth prize respectively. Each of the six unranked laureates will receive €4,000.
This year’s competition commemorates three significant anniversaries this year: the 150th anniversaries of the birth of both Casals and Queen Elisabeth, who enjoyed a close friendship throughout their lives, and the 75th anniversary of the Queen Elisabeth Competition.
Here is the order of play for the week, with each contestant’s chosen concerto:
Monday 25 May
Maria Zaitseva — Dutilleux: Tout un monde lointain
Lionel Martin — Dvořák: Concerto No. 2 in B minor
Tuesday 26 May
Yo Kitamura — Prokofiev: Sinfonia concertante
Ivan Sendetsky — Shostakovich: Concerto No. 1
Wednesday 27 May
Ettore Pagano — Prokofiev: Sinfonia concertante
Clara Dietlin — Prokofiev: Sinfonia concertante
Thursday 28 May
Dilshod Narzillaev — Shostakovich: Concerto No. 1
Álvaro Lozano Cames — Shostakovich: Concerto No. 1
Friday 29 May
Leland Ko — Barber: Concerto in A
Krzysztof Michalski — Shostakovich: Concerto No. 1
Saturday 30 May
Andrew Ilhoon Byun — Dutilleux: Tout un monde lointain
Tae‑Yeon Kim — Lutosławski: Concerto
Watch and listen to the competition here.
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