Cellist Park Sang-hyuk takes 3rd at George Enescu Competition; 14-year-old Jung Seo-jin wins special award

Cellist Park Sang-hyuk, 22, has taken third place at the George Enescu International Competition.

According to the competition organizers and the Kumho Culture Foundation, Park performed Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104 in the cello category of the 2026 George Enescu International Competition in Bucharest, Romania, earning third place. The prize carries 5,000 euros ($5,810).

First place went to Samuel Niederhauser of Switzerland, who performed Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1. In addition to the top prize, Niederhauser received the Best Interpretation of the Compulsory Work award and the Audience Prize. He had previously placed third at the 2023 Paulo International Cello Competition in Finland. Second place went to Joshua Kovacs of the United States, who performed the Dvorak concerto. Kovacs also took the "Serafim Antropofmanu" prize, awarded to the competitor who best performs Enescu's Sonata No. 2 for Cello and Piano.

Jung Seo-jin, 14, the youngest competitor to reach the final round, advanced as far as the semifinals before receiving the "Playing for Tomorrow" special award, given to a young musician of exceptional potential.

The George Enescu International Competition is the centerpiece of the George Enescu Festival, the largest music festival in Eastern Europe. It was founded in 1958 to honor the Romanian composer and violinist Enescu. The competition began with violin and piano categories, later added voice and composition, and ran on a three-year cycle through 1971. A cello category was introduced in 2009, and the event has since operated on a two-year cycle across four categories: piano, violin, cello and composition.

The competition has launched the careers of many world-renowned musicians, including pianist Radu Lupu, Dmitri Alexeev, Arie Vardi and violinist Silvia Marcovici. Korean cellists who have won the top prize in the cello category include Hong Eun-sun, who took first place in 2014, and Han Jae-min, who did so in 2020.

Park made his debut at the Kumho Young Artist Concert in 2019 and rose to prominence with a third-place finish at the 2023 Tchaikovsky International Competition and second place at the Krzysztof Penderecki International Cello Competition. He graduated at the top of his class from both Yewon School and the Korea National University of Arts, and studied under Lee Kang-ho, Jang Hyung-won and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. He is currently studying under master cellist Ivan Monighetti at the Reina Sofia School of Music in Madrid, Spain, and the Liechtenstein Music School.