Cellist Brannon Cho, a junior music performance major in the Bienen School of Music, tied for second place in the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation’s 2015 International Cello Competition. Cho receives a cash award of $7,500.

Five finalists, out of a pool of 54 cellists from around the world, were chosen to compete in the final round of competition, which took place Sunday, October 18, at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.

Established in 1926, the Naumburg Competition is considered one of the most prestigious music competitions in the world. The solo competition rotates disciplines from year to year between piano, strings and voice, and is open to competitors of every nationality between the ages of 17-31.

Brannon Cho is a student of Bienen Professor Hans Jørgen Jensen.

Among his recent accolades, Cho advanced to the first round of competition in the 15th International Tchaikovsky Competition, which took place in Russia in June and July. He was one of only three Americans invited to the prestigious competition.

Cho received the Founders Prize in Cello at the 2015 Mondavi Center Young Artists Competition and received first prize in the Friends of the Minnesota Orchestra Young Artist Competition. Along with three other Bienen students, he performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as part of the Kennedy Center’s Conservatory Project last spring.

MORE ABOUT THE NAUMBURG COMPETITION

The Walter W. Naumburg Foundation continues in the pursuit of ideals set out by Walter Naumburg, whose desire to assist the young gifted musicians in America has made possible a long-standing program of competitions and awards in solo and chamber music performance, composer recordings, conducting, and commissions. It was Mr. Naumburg's firm belief that such competitions were not only for the benefit of new stars, but for those talented young artists who would become prime movers in the development of the highest standards of musical excellence throughout America. Past winners of the competition include Colin Carr, Truls Mørk, and Leonidas Kavakos.