[PRESS RELEASE, BUCHAREST, 27 JULY 2020] 

The 2020 George Enescu International Competition, scheduled to take place between August 29 and September 20, still goes ahead, albeit in a new format with two distinct phases. The first two rounds of the Competition will be held online in September according to the initial calendar, whereas the Semifinals and Finals of all sections are rescheduled for May 2021, at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. The general public will have access to the Opening Gala and the first two rounds exclusively online and free, while spectators who have purchased tickets and season subscriptions will receive their money back.

The decision was made by the Competition’s organiser, ARTEXIM, after deliberate discussions with the members of the juries and the Artistic Director of the Enescu Festival and Competition, Vladimir Jurowski, in the context of the escalation of pandemic worldwide, to protect the health of all participants - young musicians, artists who are jury members, general public and the organising team.

”We regret we had to change the organising format in the short time left until the beginning of the Competition. We decided not to cancel the Competition because we want to send a message to artists and the general public about how important it is for all of us to not give up on what defines us as human beings. The candidates who entered the Competition are defined by their passion for music and the desire to excel in their artistic careers. Jury members - internationally recognised artists and professors - want to promote and support young musicians in these difficult times for their future careers. Our audience is defined by their passion to listen to quality music. For them, we decided to continue organising the Competition, but under different conditions, to protect the health of all involved. Participating in the 2020 Enescu Competition will be for the laureates of the three sections, more than ever, a great chance to assert themselves on the international musical stage," Mihai Constantinescu, Director of ARTEXIM, told the press.

The 2020 Phase of the Enescu Competition

All participants will stay safe at home. For each of the first two rounds of the Competition, the competitors will send to the Organising Committee video recordings of their performances until August 24 (cello), August 31 (violin) and September 6 (piano) according to the initially chosen repertoire, and the jury members will analyse from home the first two rounds of the Competition. All the recordings sent by competitors will be published for the general public on the Enescu Competition’s website www.festivalenescu.ro.

The 2020 Enescu Competition will start according to the programme on August 29, with the Gala Concert originally announced, which will be streamed live, free of charge, on www.festivalenescu.ro.

The First Round of the Competition in each Section will take place according to the initial programme: Cello, August 30 - September 3; Violin, September 5-9; Piano, September 11-15. Both the public and the members of the jury will watch the competitors’ performances recorded beforehand and sent to the organisers. 

The juries will choose the 12 competitors who advance to the Second Round, which will also take place online, based on recordings of competitors’ performances, according to the initial programme: Cello, September 5-7; Violin, September 11-13; Piano, September 17-19. Of the 12 competitors from the Second Round of each section, only six will pass on to the Semifinals.

The jury members will select the works entered in the Composition Section of the Enescu Competition between September 1-15, 2020. Each member of the jury will analyse at home the 25 works registered, and the organisers will communicate publicly the final results on September 20, 2020.

George Enescu Competition is an international platform for launching the future world-class musicians and for promoting the compositions of the great Romanian composer to the new generation of artists. It is thus a natural extension of the George Enescu Festival, the most important cultural event organised in Romania. The Competition has four sections – violin, cello, piano, and composition – and the international standards according to which it is organised place it at the top of the hierarchy of events, developed in the landscape of classical music in Romania. 

Additional Information for the Press: 
Oana Marinescu | 0741 278 737 | Oana.Marinescu [@] omavision.ro

Read the entire press release for more information about the 2021 Phase of the Enescu Competition, the refund of tickets and the reaction of the Jury to the new format.