2026 年伊丽莎白女王国际音乐比赛第一轮于 2026 年 5 月 4 日至 9 日在比利时布鲁塞尔弗拉吉音乐厅举行。64 位大提琴家演奏了一场独奏音乐会，曲目包括博凯里尼的一首奏鸣曲、一首钢琴伴奏作品以及 卡伊娅·萨里亚霍的独奏大提琴摇篮曲。
24名大提琴手入选半决赛，半决赛将于5月11日至16日举行。每位参赛选手将进行两场演出，一场在晚上，一场在下午，两场演出日期不同。
半决赛选手将演奏安东·克拉夫特的 C 大调协奏曲 op. 4、迈克尔·海顿的降 B 大调协奏曲和利奥波德·霍夫曼的 D 大调协奏曲 Badley D3，由瓦隆皇家室内乐团伴奏，瓦汉·马尔迪罗西安指挥。
他们还将进行独奏表演。评委将从候选人提出的两个独奏曲目中选出一个，每个曲目都包括候选人选择的作品以及哈罗德·诺本专门为今年比赛创作的必选未发表作品 《咖啡因》。
24位半决赛选手是：
Andrew Ilhoon Byun
Roric Cunningham
Clara Dietlin
Léo Ispir
Tae-Yeon Kim
Yo Kitamura
Leland Ko
Theresa Laun
Isaac Lottman
Álvaro Lozano Cames
Lionel Martin
Anna Meipariani
Krzysztof Michalski
Marcus Michelin
Dilshod Narzillaev
Ettore Pagano
Ivan Sendetsky
Michael Song
Simon Tetzlaff
Michael Wehrmeyer
Alexander Wollheim
Jiaxun Yao
Maria Zaitseva
Arne Jesper Zeller
第一轮评审团由 Gilles Ledure（主席）、Natalie Clein、Roel Dieltiens、Valentin Erben、Ophélie Gaillard、Anne Gastinel、Benjamin Glorieux、Marie Hallynck、Anssi Karttunen、Daniel Müller-Schott、Sharon Robinson 和王健组成。
The first round of the 2026 Queen Elisabeth Competition took place from 4 to 9 May 2026 at Flagey, Brussels, Belgium. 64 cellists performed a recital programme comprising a sonata by Boccherini, a work with piano accompaniment, plus Lullaby for solo cello by Kaija Saariaho.
24 cellists have been selected to take part in the semi-final rounds, which will take place from 11 to 16 May. Each contestant will perform twice, once in the evening and once in the afternoon on a different day.
Semi-finalists will play a concerto from Concerto in C major op. 4 by Anton Kraft, Concerto in B flat major by Michael Haydn and Concerto in D major Badley D3 by Leopold Hofmann, accompanied by the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, conducted by Vahan Mardirossian.
They will also perform a recital. The jury will choose one of two recital programmes proposed by the candidate, each including works of the candidate’s choice and the compulsory unpublished work written especially for this year’s edition by Harold Noben, Caffeine.
The 24 semi-finalists are:
Andrew Ilhoon Byun
Roric Cunningham
Clara Dietlin
Léo Ispir
Tae-Yeon Kim
Yo Kitamura
Leland Ko
Theresa Laun
Isaac Lottman
Álvaro Lozano Cames
Lionel Martin
Anna Meipariani
Krzysztof Michalski
Marcus Michelin
Dilshod Narzillaev
Ettore Pagano
Ivan Sendetsky
Michael Song
Simon Tetzlaff
Michael Wehrmeyer
Alexander Wollheim
Jiaxun Yao
Maria Zaitseva
Arne Jesper Zeller
The jury for the first round comprised Gilles Ledure (chairman), Natalie Clein, Roel Dieltiens, Valentin Erben, Ophélie Gaillard, Anne Gastinel, Benjamin Glorieux, Marie Hallynck, Anssi Karttunen, Daniel Müller-Schott, Sharon Robinson and Jian Wang.