History of Paulo

International Paulo Cello Competition

The competition, founded on the initiative of The Paulo Foundation and Professor Arto Noras, has been presented three times before, in 1991, 1996 and 2002. The Paulo Cello Competition is one of the most important competitions of today.

The repertoire of the competition has always been exciting and demanding including music of our time as well as the earlier masterpieces of cello music.

PREVIOUS WINNERS

The first International Paulo Cello Competition was held in Helsinki from November 4th to 14th, 1991.

I Xavier Phillips France
II Quirine Viersen
Netherlands
III Henri Demarquette
France

The second International Paulo Cello Competition was held 3-15 November 1996 and was won by Chinese cellist Hai-Ye Ni.

I Hai-Ye Ni, China
II Oren Shevlin, UK
III Perttu Kivilaakso, Finland

The third International Paulo Cello Competition was held in November 2002..

The third Paulo Cello Competition consisted of recital programmes of the contestants' choice and of four different concertos. The concertos were played with the Tapiola Sinfonietta, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. The competition was held at The Helsinki Conservatory of Music, The Tapiolasali Hall and The Finlandia Hall.

I Enrico Bronzi, Italy
II Rafal Kwiatkowski, Poland
III Young-Hoon Song, South Korea

The Paulo Foundation' s history

The Paulo Foundation is based upon the last will and testament of Reko Paulo's wife, Hulda, and their daughter Marja. Reko and Hulda Paulo were restaurateurs. They founded the Russian-style restaurant Bellevue that still exists in Katajanokka, Helsinki.

Grigori Pawlow, who later changed his name to Reko Paulo, was born in 1891 in the village of Petser in Estonia. This village is nowadays part of Russia. The substantial estate left behind by the Paulo family, which included an entire building and several apartments in Helsinki, was a testimony to their hard work. Reko and Hulda Paulo had two children. Their son Teppo fell in the last days of the Finnish-Russian war on the eastern front in July 1944 and their daughter Marja never married.

In terms of the regulations governing the Paulo Foundation it awards grants to artists and researchers who are either Finnish citizens or permanent residents in Finland. The grants are awarded in the fields of medical and economic research as well as in fine arts and music.

The Paulo Foundation
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