CellEAST International Competition

The Prize Winners of CellEAST International Competition

GROUP A
1st Prize – Antim Arnăutu
2nd Prize – Viktoria Marie Rohde
3rd Prize – Andrei Țuțu and Marica Ciprian Andrei

GROUP B
1st Prize – Lyana Ulikhanyan and Sinjo Yap
2nd Prize – Ștefan Iordachi
2nd Prize – Palu Anton
2nd Prize – Eloise Piller
3rd Prize – Tudor Ionescu
3rd Prize – Tiago Suma
3rd Prize – Ruxandra Țoța
3rd Prize – Daria Rousseva
Honorable Mention – Zhanerke Kalkamankyzy, Hryhorii Vasyliev, Gergo Kostyak Szoverdi and Barbu Radu.

GROUP C
1st Prize – Fryderyk Midor
2nd Prize – Tudor Ioan
3rd Prize – Nauma Najman
Honorable Mention – Raluca Gheboianu and Patrick Farcaș

GROUP D
1st Prize – Lele Wangwang
2nd Prize – Cornelius Zirbo
3rd Prize – Kamil Mukhametdinov
3rd Prize – Mukhammadrizo Ruzmatov

SPECIAL PRIZES

1. Dinu Lipatti State Philharmonic Prize – Invitation to perform as soloist one concert with the Dinu Lipatti State Philharmonic from Satu Mare in 2025 or 2026 – Sara Chano.
2. Mihail Jora Philharmonic Prize – Invitation to perform as soloist one concert with the Mihail Jora Philharmonic from Bacau in 2025 or 2026 – Cornelius Zirbo.
3. Sibiu State Philharmonic Prize – Invitation to perform as soloist one concert with the Sibiu State Philharmonic Orchestra in 2025 or 2026 – Lele Wangwang.
4. Oradea State Philharmonic Prize – Invitation to perform as soloist one concert with the Oradea State Philharmonic from Oradea in 2025 or 2026 – Fryderyk Midor.
5. CellEAST International Competition Prize – Free registration fee to participate within the next CellEAST International Competition edition: Tudor Ioan, Tudor Ionescu, Ștefan Iordachi, Noemi Molnar and Anna Nekvasilova.
6. CellEAST Masterclass Prize – Free registration fee to participate within to one of the next CellEAST Masterclass edition – Sin Jo Yap.
7. IConArts Transilvania Prize – Full scholarship within the IconArts Transilvania Masterclasses in 2024 or 2025. The scholarship consist in masterclass, accommodation and 3 meals/day – Soma David.
8. ICon Arts MiniCellos Prize – Full scholarship within the ICon Arts MiniCellos Masterclasses in 2025 or 2026. The scholarship consist in masterclass, accommodation and 3 meals/day – Andrei Țuțu.
9. MiniCellos Prize – Free registration fee at MiniCellos Masterclass within the ICon Arts 2024 or 2025 – Ruxandra Țoța.
10. George Enescu Philharmonic Prize – Invitation to collaborate for one week within the cello section of the George Enescu Philharmonic season 2025-2026 – Soma David.
11. SoNoRo Prize – Full scholarship at one of the SoNoRo Interferențe workshops in 2025. The scholarship consist in chamber music masterclass, accommodation and 3 meals/day – Mate Feher.
12. Silvian Rusu Prize, luthier of Atheneum Violins S.R.L. – Free cello set-up together with Professor Răzvan Suma – Ștefan Ciceu.
13. Violoncellissimo Prize – Invitation to collaborate within the Violoncellissimo Ensemble for one concert in 2024 or 2025 – Ștefan Ciceu.
14. UCIMR (Union of Interpretive Creation of Musicians from Romania) Prize – Scholarship for attending to masterclass in Europe – Giang Thu Nguyen.
15. Thomastik-Infeld Prize by Attila Pasztor – One free set of strings for: Aibar Adiluly, Rafael Suciu, Antim Arnăutu, Marica Andrei, Anton Palu, Tiago Suma, Ruxandra Țoța, Arman Issabay, Andrei Duțulescu, Georgi Yonov, Soma David, Fryderyk Midor, Noemi Molnar, Nauma Najman, Anna Nekvasilova, Yoan Yovchev, Ioan Tudor, Lyana Ulikhanyan, Zhanerke Kalkamankyzy, Maria Larisa Dumitrescu, Patrick Farcaș, Raluca Gheboianu, Sofia Blându, Vlad Câmpean, Mate Feher, Ștefan Ciceu, Stanislav Gilka, Thu Giang Nguyen, Vladimir Todea, Anna WAsik, Lele Wangwang, David Szenkovics and Plamena Manolakeva.
16. Cellissimo Prize – Free registration fee at Cellissimo Masterclass in Sofia (in Bulgaria) organized by Professor Atanas Krastev in 2025 or 2026 – Daria Rousseva.
17. Art Without Borders Prize – Free registration fee at ArtWithout Borders organized by Professor Denis Severin in 2025 or 2026 – Soma David and Raluca Gheboianu.
18. Romanian Radio Society Prize for the best interpretation of the Romanian piece composed by Dan Dediu (for D group) – Special Recording within the SRR of the Romanian Piece composed by Dan Dediu – Mate Feher.
19. Apollonia Cultural Center Prize – Invitation to perform one cello recital in Brașov. The event will be organized by Apollonia Cultural Center in 2024 or 2025 – Vlad Câmpean.
20. JovialCellos Prize – 500 $ for Tudor Ionescu and Anton Palu.
21. Dinu Lipatti National College of Arts Prize – Educational Project which consist in organising one educational concert for children within the Dinu Lipatti National College of Arts together with Professor Ella Bokor in 2024 or 2025 – Anton Palu, Raluca Gheboianu, Tudor Ioan and Larisa Dumitrescu.
22. MiniCellos CellEAST Prize – Free registration fee to participate within the MiniCellos Masterclass in 2025 – Rafael Suciu.

CellEAST International Competition, Special Prize for the Best Pianist Accompanist at the YoungCellEAST Category (Groups A, B and C) – Cătălina Bordeanu.

CellEAST International Competition 2024, 1st EDITION SCHEDULE

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Brochure

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Rules and regulations

The CellEAST International Competition is the first cello competition in Romania entirely dedicated to CELLO with four age groups. The competition is organized by the PlaCello Cultural Association and co funded by the AFCN – Administration of the National Cultural Fund.

Our main partners are the National University of Music Bucharest and UCIMR – the Union of Interpretive Creation of Musicians from Romania.

The total PRIZES consist in 11,000 EURO and many SPECIAL PRIZES.

I. ELIGIBILITY
The CellEAST International Competition will take place from 6 to 11 May 2024 at the National University of Music Bucharest, Romania. The competition is open for professional musicians and cello students of all nationalities. Candidates must be no younger than 5 years old and no more than 35 years of age on last day of the competition, 11 May 2024.

II. CATEGORIES
The CellEAST International Competition is held in two categories – YoungCellEAST and ProCellEAST. The YoungCellEAST category is divided into three (3) age groups (groups A, B & C) and the ProCellEAST category has one age group (group D).

YoungCellEAST category:
Group A – 5 to 10 years old;
Group B – 11 to 14 years old;
Group C – 15 to 18 years old;

ProCellEAST category:
Group D – 19 to 35 years old.

III. CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION
1. Candidates must register and fill out the CellEAST International Competition application form in its entirety and submit it along with the non-refundable fee for entry. The registration link will be active from 22 of January 2024 to 1 of March 2024, 11:59 p.m.
2. Successful candidates will receive confirmation of admittance to competition by email on 15 of March 2024. Only timely and accurately filled applications will be accepted for selection upon receipt of the non-refundable entrance fee.

IV. VIDEOS FOR THE PRELIMINARY ROUND
1. Insert in the registration form YOUTUBE link/s with video recording of a free choice program. Total duration of 5 to 10 minutes for groups A and B. Total duration of 10 to 15 minutes for groups C and D.
2. The video must be unedited. It must include recordings from 2023 or 2024. Also can be repeated from the competition repertory. Please send the video link/s together with the application form.

V. ENTRANCE FEES
YoungCellEAST category:
A – 150 RON or 30 EURO
B – 200 RON or 40 EURO
C – 250 RON or 50 EURO

ProCellEAST category:
D – 300 RON or 60 EURO

The participation fee can be paid in RON or EURO:

Transfer for EURO – Beneficiary: UCIMR: RO17 BTRL EURC RT04 7708 8101, Banca Transilvania Sucursala Bucur Obor, SWIFT: BTRLRO22, CIC 4770881. Address: Șoseaua Mihai Bravu no. 10, sector 2, București. Details – CellEAST Competition.
Transfer for RON/LEI – Beneficiary: Asociația U.C.I.M.R. – Uniunea de Creație Interpretativă a Muzicienilor din România: RO40 BTRL RONC RT04 7708 8102 – Banca Transilvania, Sucursala Obor. Detalii de plată – CellEAST Competition.

Please send the proof of payment within the online application – button upload proof of payment. Entrance fee is non-refundable should the candidate withdraw from the competition.

VI. ACCOMPANYING PIANISTS

1. The competition will provide 4 accompanying pianists. The competitors will have one rehearsal with piano of 30 min./person/round.

VII. COMPETITION PROCEDURE

The CellEAST International Competition runs from 6 to 11 May 2024 inclusive and consists of one round in groups A and B; and two rounds in group C and D.
All rounds, except the pre-audition based on recorded materials attached or linked to the application form, are open to the public.
The order of performance at each stage of the competition will be alphabetically.
The order of performance in the Final (group D) will be chosen by the organizers of the competition, and the order is not open to negotiation at any point.
The organizers of the competition reserve the right to make minor changes to the times of competitors’ appearances in the competition.
Repertory and duration of performance at each stage of the competition vary depending on age group.
Younger competitors may take part in auditions of older age group, provided they are able to perform works for that group level.
The competitors can also participate in two different age groups but they must perform different repertory (as a group age requirement) and pay the registration fee to each group.
Repertory choices must be listed by the applicant on the submitted application form. No changes of the repertory will be accepted after 15 March 2024.
The order of the pieces in the programmes is up to each competitor.
In each round all works must be performed from memory, with the exception of the sonatas for piano and cello. Participants from group D can perform the BoleroBalkan – Dan Dediu by score. Repeats are left to the discretion of each competitor, but competitors must take them into account when working out the timing of their programmes.
Selected candidates must present all hard copies of sheet music, if required by the organizers, to be used during the competition upon arrival at the registration desk. The Jury may request competitors to present the scores of particular versions, which had been used for rehearsing their programmes. The registration desk’s schedule will be announced by e-mail before the competition.
Works must be performed only once at each round of the competition (for C & D groups).
Competitors performances will be judged by the international Jury, whose decisions is final and not subject to any appeal.
Competitors may request for comments of their performance from the Jury only after the competition.
Members of the Jury may not vote for a candidate who is, or has been, one of their students or family member.
The Jury reserves the right to withhold any prize should the required standard not be attained.
The Jury reserves the right to interrupt performances that exceed time limit indicated by the organizers of the competition for each age group.
Candidates selected by the Jury, laureates and diploma holders agree to cooperate with all reasonable requests on the part of the organizers and to take part in concerts held within the time limit of the competition and festival without any financial reward.
The organizers of the competition have unrestricted rights to film, record, photograph and broadcast any part of the competitor’s participation in the rounds, closing concert and Gala of the competition. The competitor agrees that he or she waives any claim whatsoever to any financial reward arising from the distribution or commercial use of any such recordings.
Four competitors or more will be chosen to reach the final stage of the competition in D group.
The CellEAST International Competition will provide accommodation from 10-12 May 2024 at Berthelot Hotel for four competitors from the final stage in D group.
Awards ceremony of the competition will be held after the final round of D group, on 11 May 2024.
The prizes and special prizes will be announced in the Competition Gala on 11 May 2024.
Cash prizes awarded to the laureates of the competition will be paid in the last day of the competition, 11 May 2024.
All competitors under the age of 18 should be accompanied by an adult who will carry full responsibility over the minor at any time.
Competitors must pay their own accommodation and travel expenses.
During the competition, the organizers cannot be held responsible for the consequences of incidents or accidents involving the competitors. It is advised to check the personal insurance of competitors and the accompanying adult(s) in order to guarantee coverage of accidents and incidents.

VIII. JURY OF THE COMPETITION
During the competition performances in both categories will be assessed by two different panels of jurors, comprising altogether 14 highly experienced musicians – internationally acclaimed performers, Professors or organizers – from all over the world.

Jury members for ProCellEAST category:

Marin Cazacu (Romania) – Chairman
Denis Severin (Switzerland / Ukraine)
Răzvan Suma (Romania)
Yoko Hasegawa (Japan)
Attila Pasztor (Austria)
Filip Papa (Romania)
Sebastian Gheorghiu (Romania)

Special Jury guests for the final round of D group:

Wen-Sinn Yang (Germany)
Marius Urba (Lithuania / Germany).

Jury members for YoungCellEAST category:

Atanas Krastev (Bulgaria) – Chairman
Krzysztof Karpeta (Poland)
Ella Bokor (Romania)
Ștefan Cazacu (Romania)
Mircea Marian (Romania)
Octavian Lup (Romania)

Jury members for Preliminary round:

Ștefan Cazacu (Romania)
Mircea Marian (Romania)
Octavian Lup (Romania)

IX. PRIZES
The total fund of cash prizes of the CellEAST International Competition is €11,000 and many special prizes.
After the final rounds in each age group of both YoungCellEAST and PROCellEAST categories two respective panels of judges will vote for three prize winners (or ex aequo prizes) in each age group to be announced, awarded cash prizes and signed diplomas during the official awarding ceremony.

PRIZES for YoungCellEAST category
A group

1st prize – 1500 RON or 300 EURO
2nd prize – 1000 RON or 200 EURO
3rd prize – 500 RON or 100 EURO

B group

1st prize – 5000 RON or 1000 EURO
2nd prize – 3000 RON or 600 EURO
3rd prize – 1500 RON or 300 EURO

C group

1st prize – 7500 RON or 1500 EURO
2nd prize – 5000 RON or 1000 EURO
3rd prize – 2500 RON or 500 EURO

PRIZES for PROCellEAST category

D group

1st prize – 15000 RON or 3000 EURO
2nd prize – 7500 RON or 1500 EURO
3rd prize – 5000 RON or 1000 EURO

Special Prizes for all categories:

Dinu Lipatti State Philharmonic Prize – Invitation to perform as soloist one concert with the Dinu Lipatti State Philharmonic from Satu Mare in 2025 or 2026.
Mihail Jora Philharmonic Prize – Invitation to perform as soloist one concert with the Mihail Jora Philharmonic from Bacau in 2025 or 2026.
Sibiu State Philharmonic Prize – Invitation to perform as soloist one concert with the Sibiu State Philharmonic Orchestra in 2025 or 2026.
Oradea State Philharmonic Prize – Invitation to perform as soloist one concert with the Oradea State Philharmonic from Oradea in 2025 or 2026.
CellEAST International Competition Prize – Free registration fee to participate within the next CellEAST International Competition edition.
CellEAST Masterclass Prize – Free registration fee to participate within to one of the next CellEAST Masterclass edition.
IConArts Transilvania Prize (for B, C and D groups) – Full scholarship within the IConArts Transilvania Masterclasses in 2024 or 2025. The scholarship consist in masterclass, accommodation and 3 meals/day.
ICon Arts MiniCellos Prize (for A group) – Full scholarship within the ICon Arts MiniCellos Masterclasses in 2025 or 2026. The scholarship consist in masterclass, accommodation and 3 meals/day.
MiniCellos Prize (for A group) – Free registration fee at MiniCellos Masterclass within the ICon Arts 2024 or 2025.
George Enescu Philharmonic Prize (for D group) – Invitation to collaborate for one week within the cello section of the George Enescu Philharmonic season 2025-2026. (To a located in Bucharest competitor).
SoNoRo Prize – Full scholarship at one of the SoNoRo Interferențe workshops in 2025. The scholarship consist in chamber music masterclass, accommodation and 3 meals/day.
Silvian Rusu Prize, luthier of Atheneum Violins S.R.L. – Free cello set-up together with Professor Răzvan Suma.
Violoncellissimo Prize – Invitation to collaborate within the Violoncellissimo Ensemble for one concert in 2024 or 2025.
UCIMR (Union of Interpretive Creation of Musicians from Romania) Prize – Scholarship for attending to masterclass in Europe.
Thomastik-Infeld Prize – One free set of strings/group & cello set-up made by Attila Pasztor.
Cellissimo Prize – Free registration fee at Cellissimo Masterclass in Sofia (Bulgaria) organized by Professor Atanas Krastev in 2025 or 2026.
ArtCelloFestival Prize – Free registration fee at ArtCelloFestival organized by Professor Denis Severin in 2025 or 2026.
Romanian Radio Society Prize for the best interpretation of the Romanian piece composed by Dan Dediu (for D group) – Special Recording within the SRR of the Romanian Piece composed by Dan Dediu.
Apollonia Cultural Center Prize (for D group) – Invitation to perform one cello recital in Brașov. The event will be organized by Apollonia Cultural Center in 2024 or 2025.
Dinu Lipatti National College of Arts Prize – Educational Project which consist in organizing one educational concert for children within the Dinu Lipatti National College of Arts together with Professor Ella Bokor in 2024 or 2025.

Please note:
Organizers of the competition reserve the right to change the list of special prizes.

X. Program

Group A
The selected candidates will need to prepare a programme not exceeding 7‒10 minutes and including two or three contrasting works of the competitor’s own choice. Can be: etude, piece, sonata movement/s, concerto movement/s.

Group B
The selected candidates will need to prepare a programme not exceeding 12‒15 minutes and including two or three contrasting works of the competitor’s own choice, one of which should be solo work: etude, caprice, suite movement/s, sonata movement/s.

Group C

Round I
The selected candidates will need to prepare a programme not exceeding 10‒12 minutes.

One solo etude or solo caprice of free choice.
One work or movements, solo or with piano of the competitor’s own choice.

Round II
The selected candidates will need to prepare a programme not exceeding 13‒15 minutes.

Two contrasting works by different composers of the competitor’s own choice. Can be: sonata movement/s, concerto movement/s, movement/s from J.S. Bach Solo Suites or any Piece for cello solo or Cello with piano accompaniment

Group D

Round I
The selected candidates will need to prepare a programme not exceeding 15-20 minutes.

One Prelude of free choice from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello, BWV 1009‒1012 (No. III, IV, V or VI).
One solo etude or solo caprice of free choice.
Romanian solo piece by composer Dan Dediu (duration aprox. 5 minutes). Download the score

THE FINAL ROUND of ProCellEAST CATEGORY & COMPETITION GALA

• Joseph Haydn Concerto for Cello and Orchestra No.1 in C major, Hob. VIIb/1 or No. 2 in D major, Hob. VIIb/2, Op. 101.

The concert will be performed integral (3 movements) with string quartet accompaniment.

11 May 2024, Saturday, 11 a.m.

The Romanian Athenaeum