Performing Sibelius´ Violin Concerto, Meng Zou won first place with a USD 30.000 Cash Award, before Bo Cui and Audrey Park.
In the cello category, First Prize was won by 15- year old Jeri Lee, who performed a spotless Tchaikovsky Rokoko-Variations. Second place went to Matthias Balzat, third place was awarded to Bogdan Efremov.
Born in China in 2002, Meng Zou studied at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music with Li Kaixiang from 2014 to 2020. He made his orchestral debut alongside the SCOM Symphony Orchestra in 2014. Other competition success includes first place at the 2023 Singapore National Piano and Violin Competition and third prize at the Classic Violin Olympus International Competition Tokyo. He has taken part in masterclses with Shlomo Mintz, Midori, Vadim Gluzman and others. Since 2020, he has been studying at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music under Qian Zhou.
Seoul-based cellist Jeri Lee studied as a pre-college student at the Korea National Institute for the Gifted in Arts and Yewon Middle School. She has won first prize at the 2022 Ysaÿe International Junior Competition and 2022 London Concerto Competition, as well as other international competitions, and was the youngest cello semi-finalist in the history of the George Enescu International Competition in 2024.
Lee has performed at venues such as Carnegie Hall and Suntory Hall and with orchestras including the Kyiv Virtuosi, Seoul Virtuosi, Yewon Chamber Orchestra and Zagreb Philharmonic. She has taken masterclasses with Zlatomir Fung, Ophélie Gaillard, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Frans Helmerson, among others. She is currently studying with Kangho Lee, Jeongju Choi, James Kim and Jungran Lee.
