The 2024 Naumburg International Cello Competition ended with two first-prize winners: Leland Ko and Jonathan Swensen. The final took place on October 20 at Manhattan School of Music’s Neidorff-Karpati Hall, after preliminary and semifinal rounds earlier that week.
Aaron Wolff, Alexander Hersh and James Kim also received awards. Cellist David Geber chaired the final-round jury.
Both first-prize winners returned to New York for Naumburg recitals in 2025. Swensen’s November 4 program at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall introduced Paul Wiancko’s Suite No. 1 for Solo Cello; Ko’s December 11 recital in the same hall featured Lei Liang’s A Kite Over the Grassland. Both works were Naumburg commissions.
Complete 2024 cello competition results and final-round video
