Eighteen-year-old South Korean pianist Jeongwoo Lee wins Enescu Competition’s Piano section
The results of the Piano Section were decided by an international jury chaired by Lilya Zilberstein.
Simona Fodor · Journalist
· 2 min read
South Korean pianist Jeongwoo Lee, 18, won the first prize in the Piano Section of the 2026 George Enescu International Competition, as well as five special prizes, following the final held on September 19 at the Romanian Athenaeum.
The Second Prize went to China’s Yiming Guo, while the Third Prize was awarded to Taiwan’s Pin-Hong Lin.
In the final, Jeongwoo Lee performed Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21. Yiming Guo performed Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C major, Op. 26, and Pin-Hong Lin performed Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 83.
The results of the Piano Section were decided by an international jury chaired by Lilya Zilberstein. The members included Nelson Goerner, Rena Shereshevskaya, Marie-Ange Nguci, Vovka Ashkenazy, Didier de Cottignies, Dana Borșan, Anthony Fogg, and Raluca Știrbăț.
In addition to the Enescu Competition prize, Jeongwoo Lee received five special prizes, namely the Radu Lupu Prize, worth EUR 3,000, for the best performance of a work by George Enescu; the Best Performance of the Compulsory Work Prize, worth EUR 2,000; the Audience Prize, worth EUR 1,000; and the Playing for Tomorrow Prize, worth EUR 1,500.
Lee also received the École Cortot Prize, which includes an opportunity to give a recital at the prestigious Salle Cortot in Paris during the 2028–2029 season, as part of celebrations marking the hall’s centenary. The prize was announced in Bucharest by Murielle Hurel, director of the École Normale de Musique de Paris.
Alfred Cortot and George Enescu were close friends who performed together, and Enescu taught at the École Normale de Musique de Paris in the 1930s.
The Constanța Erbiceanu Prize, awarded to the highest-ranked Romanian contestant in the Piano Section, went to pianist Inya-Maria Cutova.
For each of the three instrumental sections of the George Enescu International Competition, namely Cello, Violin, and Piano, the First Prize is worth EUR 15,000, the Second Prize EUR 10,000, and the Third Prize EUR 5,000.
