THE HAGUE, the Netherlands (JTA) — Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg won the prestigious Queen Elisabeth Music Competition in Brussels.
Giltburg, 28, of Tel Aviv, was named the winner in the piano category early Sunday for his “impeccable and unusually moving rendition of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3,” the Belgian-Jewish magazine Joods Actueel reported.
The Moscow-born musician is the second Israeli to win the international competition, which began in 1951; Miriam Fried won in the violin category in 1971.
Giltburg won a cash prize of $32,450 from the competition’s fund and another $3,245 from the VRT broadcaster.
The six finalists were selected by a 14-person jury among 75 performers. In total, a record 283 candidates applied to compete.
“This could change my life, I will try to use this to the maximum,” he was quoted as telling VRT.
In 2011, Giltburg won second prize in the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition.
