Lilia Pocitari and Yesong Sophie Lee winners at Seoul International Music Competition 2025
Two Eisler students achieved significant success at the renowned Seoul International Music Competition 2025: 28-year-old Moldovan violinist Lilia Pocitari won second prize, worth €30,000. She has been studying at the Eisler since 2021, currently in the concert exam programme with Prof. Ulf Wallin and in the master's programme in violin concertmaster/solo with Prof. Ulf Wallin. The 22-year-old violinist Yesong Sophie Lee from the USA received the third prize, worth €20,000. She has been studying for her master's degree with Prof. Kolja Blacher since 2024.
Lilia Pocitari earned her bachelor's degree at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in Tel Aviv, Israel, with Ilya Konovalov. She then continued her studies with Prof. Julian Rachlin at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna and, from 2021, with Prof. Ulf Wallin in Berlin at the Hanns Eisler School of Music. She has won several first prizes at international competitions in Europe, including the Bartók World Competition 2023 in Budapest, where she received both the first prize and the special prize for the best interpretation of a contemporary work. As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras such as the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Concerto Budapest, the Orchestra Sinfonica di Sanremo, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and the Hungarian State Opera Orchestra.
In addition, she regularly performs as a chamber musician with renowned musicians and ensembles, for example in 2023 with Julian Rachlin, Denis Kozhukhin, Sarah McElravy and Eckart Runge at the Vienna Konzerthaus. She plays a violin by Nicola Bergonzi from 1779 with a bow by François Nicolas Voirin, which is provided to her by Alpha Capital Anstalt.
Yesong Sophie Lee made her orchestral debut at the age of eight as a soloist with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. After winning first prize at the 2016 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists, she performed in Europe and the USA with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, among others. She has also performed at international festivals such as the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, the Valdres Festival, the Atlanta Music Festival and the IMS Prussia Cove Festival. She plays the 1687 Antonio Stradivari violin ‘Ex-Bello’, which is provided to her by the organisation ‘Rare Violins In Consortium’.
The Seoul International Music Competition was established by the City of Seoul and Dong-A Ilbo, Korea's most prestigious national newspaper. The competition is held annually in alternating categories of piano, violin and voice, with the aim of promoting cultural exchange between nations through music and supporting talented young musicians from around the world. The 2025 edition was held from 30 November to 10 December at Seoul National University of Education and the Seoul Arts Centre.