Italian cellist Ettore Pagano has won first prize at the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Competition, one of the world’s most prestigious international music competitions.
The results were announced on 31 May in Brussels following the final round of the cello edition. Pagano received the First Prize – Queen Mathilde Prize, which includes €25,000 and a series of concert engagements in Belgium and abroad.
South Korean cellist Tae-Yeon Kim was awarded second prize, while American cellist Leland Ko received third prize. Spanish cellist Álvaro Lozano Cames finished fourth, followed by Yo Kitamura in fifth place and Maria Zaitseva in sixth.
Founded in 1937, the Queen Elisabeth Competition is regarded as one of the most demanding events on the international music calendar. Held in Brussels, it has helped launch the careers of numerous leading violinists, pianists, singers and cellists. A distinctive feature of the competition is its final round, during which finalists prepare an unpublished work after spending a week in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel with no outside contact.
Alongside the first prize, Pagano will receive the rare opportunity to perform on the historic “Casals” cello, built by Venetian luthier Matteo Goffriller and owned for decades by Pablo Casals. The instrument, which Casals played in many of his most celebrated performances and recordings, will be loaned to the Italian musician for four years through the Pau Casals Foundation.
The loan coincides with the 150th anniversary of the births of both Queen Elisabeth of Belgium and Casals. The instrument will be formally presented to Pagano during the competition’s prize ceremony on 2 June at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo.
Pagano’s victory marks a major milestone in the young cellist’s career and places him among the latest laureates of a competition that continues to serve as an important gateway to the international concert stage.
Who is Ettore Pagano?
Born in 2003, Pagano studied at the Santa Cecilia Conservatoire in Rome and is currently continuing his training at the Universität der Künste Berlin with Jens Peter Maintz. Over the past few years, he has emerged as one of the most prominent young cellists of his generation, winning major prizes including the Khachaturian International Competition and receiving second prize, the audience award and the prize for best sonata at the 2024 Enescu Competition.
His recent distinctions also include the 2025 Premio Abbiati, awarded by the Italian Music Critics Association, as well as the ICMA Classeek Award.
Pagano’s victory at the Queen Elisabeth Competition marks the most significant achievement of his career so far and places the 23-year-old Italian among the latest laureates of a competition that continues to serve as an important gateway to the international concert stage.
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