Jeongwoo Lee wins First Prize at George Enescu International Competition

South Korean pianist Jeongwoo Lee, 18, has won First Prize in the Piano Section of the 20th George Enescu International Competition. The final took place on September 19 at the Romanian Athenaeum, featuring the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Daniela Candillari.

In addition to the top prize, Lee received five special awards, including the “Radu Lupu” Prize for the best performance of a work by George Enescu, the Audience Prize, and the École Cortot Prize, which grants him a recital at the Salle Cortot in Paris during the 2028-2029 season. Other distinctions included the “Playing for Tomorrow” prize and the award for the best performance of the commissioned work, “Hammers and Tongs” by Karim Al-Zand.

Second Prize was awarded to Yiming Guo of China, and Third Prize went to Pin-Hong Lin of Taiwan. The international jury was chaired by Lilya Zilberstein. The competition concluded the piano section of this 20th edition of the festival.