Candidates Announced for 2022 Queen Elisabeth International Cello Competition

Established in 1937 by Eugène Ysaÿe and Queen Elisabeth, the competition is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world, offering young musicians an opportunity to develop their careers at an international level by performing before a large audience of music-lovers and music professionals.

The first edition of the cello section of the competition was introduced in 2017.

The 68 opening-round candidates are:

• Riana Anthony (United States)
• Beata Antikainen (Finland)
• James Baik (United States)
• Yibai Chen (China)
• Bryan Cheng (Canada)
• Hayoung Choi (South Korea)
• Elia Cohen-Weisert (Israel/Germany)
• Christoph Croisé (France/Germany)
• Rainer Crosett (United States)
• Balázs Dolfin (Hungary)
• Lee Dongyeol (South Korea)
• Alessandra Doninelli (Swizerland)
• Jonah Ellsworth (United States)
• Jeremias Fliedl (Austria)
• Hideaki Fujiwara (Japan)
• André Gunko (Portugal)
• Anouchka Hack (Germany)
• Constatin Heise (Germany)
• Eline Hensels (Netherlands)
• Oliver Herbert (United States)
• Timothy Hopkins (Germany)
• Stéphanie Huang (Belgium)
• Jakyoung Olivia Huh (South Korea)
• Annie Jacobs-Perkins (United States)
• Woochan Jeong (South Korea)
• Haddon Kay (United States)
• Bumjun Kim (France)
• James Kim (South Korea)
• Min Ji Kim (South Korea)
• Stanislas Kim (France)
• Marcel Johannes Kits (Estonia)
• Leland Ko (United States/Canada)
• Yeongkwang Lee (South Korea)
• En-Chun Lin (Chinese Taipei)
• Giovannini Luca (Italy)
• Sam Lucas (Australia)
• Jean-Baptiste Maizières (France)
• Keisuki Morita (Japan)
• Zachary Mowitz (United States)
• Taguk Mun (South Korea)
• Antonin Musset (France)
• Ah-Yeon Nam (South Korea)
• Samuel Niederhauser (Switzerland)
• Ye Un Park (South Korea)
• Petar Pejčić (Serbia)
• Erica Piccotti (Italy)
• Konstanze Pietschmann (Germany)
• Edvard Pogossian (United States)
• Florian Pons (France)
• Maxime Quennesson (France)
• Umut Saglam (Turkey)
• Philipp Schupelius (Germany)
• Ivan Sendetskiy (Russia)
• Oleksiy Shadrin (Ukraine)
• Ivan Skanavi (Russia)
• Grace Sohn (Canada)
• Anton Spronk (Netherlands/Switzerland)
• Vasily Stepanov (Russia)
• Hayk Sukiasyan (Armenia)
• Ildikó Szabó (Hungary)
• Simon Tetzlaff (Germany)
• Ella Van Poucke (Netherlands)
• Luiz Fernando Venturelli (Brazil)
• Alexander Warenburg (Netherlands)
• Aaron Wolff (United States)
• Sul Yoon (South Korea)
• Maria Zaytseva (Russia)
• Klaudio Zoto (Albania)

This year's opening round will be held from May 9 to May 14.

The semi-final round, to be held from May 16 to 21, will feature each competitor performing a commissioned work as well as a Haydn cello concerto with the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie and conductor Vahan Mardirossian.

The final round will be hosted at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels on May 30. Each finalist will perform a commissioned work, a commissioned concerto for the competition, and a major cello concerto with conductor Stéphane Denève and the Brussels Philharmonic.

Former prize winners include VC Artists Aurélien Pascal, Ivan Karizna, Brannon Cho, and Santiago Cañón-Valencia.

The jury for this year's competition will be announced in March.