Queen Elisabeth Competition 2026: Cello

This year's Queen Elisabeth Competition is dedicated to cello. It's a special edition since the world renowned music competition celebrates its 75th edition, a 150 years after the birth of its namesake and founder, Queen Elisabeth and of Pablo Casals, the famous Spanish cellist who is considered one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century.

The winner of the 2026 edition of the Queen Elisabeth Competition will therefore receive Casals’ legendary “Gofriller” cello on loan for four years.

Queen  Elisabeth of the Belgians and Pablo Casals, 1961

First round: Monday 4 May to Saturday 9 May 2026 at Flagey.

4 May 2026: After visiting the exhibition "The Belgian royal family and the cello", Mathilde attended a session.

Semi Finals: Monday 11 May to Saturday 16 May 2026 at Flagey.

13 May 2026: King Philippe & Queen Mathilde had a meeting at the royal palace with the jury members of this year's competition, presided by Gilles Ledure.

Afterwards Queen Mathilde attended a session at Flagey.

The same day, Mathilde also visited violin makers Jan & Matthijs Strick, the father & son who run Maison Bernard. They are responsible for the maintenance, tuning, and repair of the cellos during the competition.

Mathilde gave extensive interviews to VRT and RTBF about the competition, the imposed work, the friendship between Queen Elisabeth & Pablo Casals, and Casals' famous cello.

16 May 2026: Queen Mathilde attended a session and the naming of the twelve finalists.

Finals: Monday 25 May to Saturday 30 May 2026 at Bozar.

25 May 2026: King Philippe & Queen Mathilde attended a session.

Mathilde's brother, Charles d'Udekem was also in the audience! He was seated next to Fang Man, the composer of the conscripted work for the finalists.

29 May 2026: Prince Gabriel (22) attended a session. 

Gabriel was accompanied by a male friend his own age who was kept out of reach from the cameras. Also in the royal box: Machteld Fostier and Yvan de Launoit.

30 May 2026: Queen Mathilde attends the final session of the finale week, and the announcement of the winner.

2 June 2026: Queen Mathilde attends the award ceremony at the Queen Elisabeth chapel in Waterloo.

Laureate Recitals (by the 6 non classified laureates) on 3 June and 4 June 2026 at Flagey.

Laureate Concerts (by numbers 6, 5 and 4) on 8 June 2026 at Bozar.

8 June 2026: Queen Mathilde attends the laureate concert.

Final Concert (By numbers 3 and 2 and the winner) on 10 June 2026 at Bozar, attended by King Philippe & Queen Mathilde.