Top Finalists of 2026 Queen Elizabeth Concours Shine at Leuven’s Cello Concert

On Thursday we went to 30cc in Leuven to listen to the number 1, 2 and 3 finalists of the 2026 cello Concours. We saw Leland Ko, Tae-Yeon Kim and Ettore Pagane each play a piece individually with the Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra and then at the end they played a short piece, the 3 of them together without orchestra as a bonus. Needless to say these are three outstanding musicians and the orchestra is also of international fame. There was a lot of variety in music as each musician chose their piece to play. We heard work from Antonin Dvorak, Camille Saint-Saëns and Dmitry Shostakovich, so recent work relatively recent composers from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. It was a really good concert and sound in the music hall was good. We were sitting a bit to the side of the stage on the first balcony and could hear the cello very well, even in parts where the whole orchestra was playing. Ettore Pagane played on the cello of Pau Casals. During the Queen Elizabeth Concours Ettore played on his own more modern cello and he commented that he prefers modern instruments because they generate more sound compared to old instruments. I have to say that at 30cc the cello from Pau Casals did not impress me as particularly silent or timid instrument 😀.