Fresh from his First Prize triumph at the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Competition, Ettore Pagano returns to Brussels for a rare encounter with some of the leading artistic voices of the cello world. The young Italian cellist opens with Mendelssohn’s elegant Variations concertantes and Debussy’s groundbreaking Sonata before unleashing the virtuoso fireworks of Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s Figaro. He is followed by internationally acclaimed cellist and 2026 Queen Elisabeth Competition juror Anne Gastinel in Henriëtte Bosmans’ powerful Sonata. For the finale, Gastinel and Pagano are joined by Brussels Cello Festival Artistic Director Han Bin Yoon in Popper’s deeply moving Requiem for three cellos and piano—a rare meeting on one stage that brings laureate, jury and artistic leadership together, celebrating what happens when the applause of a great competition gives way to the next chapter of an artist’s journey.