Ottawa-born cellist Bryan Cheng has won 2nd prize and the Audience Prize at the International Music Competition in Geneva, Switzerland.
In a statement to Ludwig Van, the 24-year-old cellist thanked the Canadians who supported and encouraged him throughout the competition by following his performances.
“It is a great honour for me to receive all of these awards, especially the Audience Award, which is dear to me,” he said.
The Geneva International Music Competition includes a cash prize of just under $20,000.
The first prize was won by the Japanese cellist, Michiaki Ueno.
Artist on the rise
- Grand Prize winner at the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Competition (2019)
- First-ever Canadian laureate at the prestigious International Paulo Cello Competition
- Firts Prize at the Bader and Overton Canadian Cello Competition (2020)
- Cheng will make his debut at the Berlin Philharmonic on June 14, 2023 as part of the prestigious “Debüt im Deutschlandfunk Kultur” series, with the Deutsches-Symphonie Orchester de Berlin under the direction of ‘Alpesh Chauhan.
- Cheng plays the Bonjour Stradivarius (c. 1696) on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.
- Cheng is co-founder of Cheng²Duo, an ensemble he formed with his sister, pianist Silvie Cheng. She can be seen accompanying Bryan during the competition semifinals.
You can watch the final performance of Cheng performing Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Orchester de la Suisse Romande under the direction of Georg Fritzsch at Victoria Hall in Geneva.
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Congrats Bryan!