We're coming to you LIVE from Budapest, Hungary, for the 2025 Budapest International Cello Competition, organized by the Filharmonia Hungary. Open to cellists under the age of thirty, the competition attracts some of the best young players in the world.

The candidates participating in the live round are as follows:

  • Alexandra Kahrer
  • Ania Druml
  • Antonia Straka
  • Arne Zeller
  • Caterina Isaia
  • Charlotte Miles
  • Emma van Schadewijk
  • Haddon Kay
  • Jinseok Jeong
  • LiLa
  • Lionel Martin
  • Michael Wehrmeyer
  • Simon Tetzlaff
  • Thomas Prechal
  • Woochan Jeong

First Prize carries a value of €18,000, while Second Prize is worth €12,000 and Third Prize €6,000. There is a range of other prizes available, including the Audience Award and the prize for the best performance of a work by Kodály.

In 2025, the jury will comprise Anne Gastinel, András Keller, Jens Peter Maintz, Frans Helmerson, Gwen Starker, Santiago Cañón Valencia, and István Várdai.

 

COMPETITION SCHEDULE:

Three finalists will perform a short set list with the National Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor György Vashegyi - to be followed immediately by a movement of solo Bach.

Final Round | September 13 at 1 PM (ET)

Candidates will perform works from two set lists, one containing sonata repertoire by Beethoven and Brahms and the other comprising solo works from after 1940 by Kodály, Ligeti, Dutilleux, and Veress.

Preliminary Round | September 8 at 7 AM (ET)

Preliminary Round | September 8 at 12 PM (ET)

Preliminary Round | September 9 at 8 AM (ET)

Preliminary Round | September 9 at 12 PM (ET)


Semi-Finalists will perform eighteenth-century concerto repertoire with the Liszt Ferenc Chamber Orchestra.

Semi Final Round Session 1 | September 11 at 8 AM (ET)

Semi Final Round Session 2 | September 11 at 12 PM (ET)