Queen Elisabeth Competition Adds 2017 Cello Discipline!

Reposted from the Queen Elisabeth Competition

In 2017, the Queen Elisabeth Competition will hold a competition devoted to the cello.

The decision to launch a new competition, dedicated to the cello, was a natural one, taken after meeting with a number of outstanding young cellists and against a background of worldwide enthusiasm for the instrument today. Despite this enthusiasm, it seems that the international scene has lacked a major competition devoted to the cello; the cellists approached by the Competition over recent months have reacted very favourably to the idea of establishing a competition along the same lines as the others organised by the Queen Elisabeth Competition.

The incorporation of this new discipline is sure to receive a very warm welcome from music professionals, from our extensive public, and from the media in general. It is in keeping with a historical tradition, in view of the bonds of mutual admiration and friendship between Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and Pablo Casals. The riches of the cello repertoire will make a logical addition to those of the Competition’s other disciplines.

The first competition to be devoted to this new discipline will take place in May 2017, that is to say, 80 years after the inauguration of the Eugène Ysaÿe Competition in Brussels. The rules and the event’s musical partners will be announced in January 2016. As with the Queen Elisabeth Competition’s other disciplines, the members of the jury will be announced just before the public rounds.