Three NEC Alumni Win at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition, Including Second Prize Winner Joshua Brown ’22, ’24 MM, ’26 AD
Violinist Joshua Brown ’22, ’24 MM, ’26 AD won Second Prize at the 2024 Queen Elisabeth Competition, along with both audience prizes. He receives €20,000 and concert opportunities in Belgium and abroad for his win. Fellow NEC alumni Julian Rhee ’22, ’24 MM and Minami Yoshida ’21, ’24 MM also finished as laureates, placing fifth and sixth, respectively.
Brown and other finalists, including Rhee, Yoshida, and Hana Chang ’16 Prep, performed with the Belgian National Orchestra conducted by Antony Hermus during the competition's final round.
Brown studied with faculty member Donald Weilerstein at New England Conservatory for six years. In November 2023, he won first prize at the China International Music Competition. The remarkable young musician debuted with the Cleveland Orchestra at just fifteen years old in 2015 and, since then, has performed with dozens of orchestras in the United States and abroad in concert halls worldwide, continually garnering praise from critics. He has won numerous prestigious awards, including being the top prize winner at the Tenth International Violin Competition of Leopold Mozart and a prize winner of the 11th Quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis.
Brown, Rhee, and Yoshida are the latest in a long lineage of NEC Queen Elisabeth laureates and prizewinner. Learn more about previous NEC prizewinners at Queen Elisabeth.