George Enescu International Festival & Competition
The George Enescu Festival and Competition are organized in honor of the famous Romanian composer George Enescu. The International George Enescu Festival and Competition are events held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania and are a cultural project funded by the Romanian Government through the Ministry of Culture, being organized by Artexim. Maestro Zubin Mehta is the Honorary President of the Enescu Festival and Competition, and Maestro Cristian Măcelaru is the Artistic Director.
In 2021, the George Enescu Festival was named “The Largest Classical Music Festival in the World in 2021” due to the efforts of the ARTEXIM team and the Romanian authorities who contributed to organizing the event during the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.
The last edition of the Festival took place in 2023 and included world-renowned orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Orchestre National de France. For 29 days, Bucharest was the center of the classical music world, with invited artists such as Yuja Wang, Martha Argerich, and Vladimir Jurowski.
The next edition of the George Enescu Festival will take place in September 2025.
In 2024, the XIX edition of the George Enescu International Competition will be held in Bucharest.
The functioning model of the Competition is inspired by the life of the artist whose name it bears. The Competition supports and promotes young talents in classical music, just as the great composer supported young musicians during his lifetime. George Enescu made substantial donations to pay scholarships for musicians, and in 1912, he supported a tour in Romania, raising over a thousand pounds to establish and award a national composition prize. At the same time, the Competition contributes to the promotion of George Enescu’s music, as his sonatas and suites are part of the Competition Repertoire.
Registrations for the 2024 edition of the George Enescu International Competition are open until May 10, 2024, for the piano, violin, and cello sections. For the composition section, the deadline for registration is June 30, 2024.
Please read the competition regulations before registering.
Find out more about the competition or register here.
