Brannon Cho Takes Sixth Prize at Queen Elisabeth
Cellist will join Laurence Lesser's studio this fall in Artist Diploma program.
Cellist Brannon Cho has been awarded Sixth Prize at the 2017 Queen Elisabeth Competition in Belgium, which ended June 3 after a month of competition rounds. Cho will be entering New England Conservatory's Artist Diploma program this fall as a student of Laurence Lesser.
Sixth Prize, the City of Brussels Prize, comes with an €8,000 purse as well as an immediate round of performances throughout Belgium.
Founded in 1937 as the Ysaÿe Competition in honor of the legendary violinist—by then deceased—who suggested the idea of a globe-spanning competition for young virtuosos to Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, the Queen Elisabeth Competition now bears its original patron monarch's name. The competition currently rotates in a four-year cycle between the disciplines of violin, piano, cello, and voice. 2017 is the first year that the rotation of disciplines has included cello. The field of 70 candidates for the opening round of the competition included nine cellists affiliated with NEC.
Yesterday I went to the #koninginelisabethwedstrijd for cello for the first time in my life and it was amazing! Kudos Brannon Cho & Sihao He