Twelve pianists from around the world have been admitted to the final phase of the 18th edition of the prestigious Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition, renowned for launching the global careers of its winners and finalists
WARSAW, Poland — Twelve pianists from around the world have been accepted to play in the final round of the 18th edition of the prestigious Frédéric Chopin Piano Competition, renowned for launching global careers for its finalists.
As a sign of appreciation for the artistic talent of the competitors in the interpretation of Chopin’s works, the international jury admitted two finalists more than foreseen by the regulations.
They are Leonora Armellini from Italy; Canadians JJ Jun Li Bui and Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu; Alexander Gadjiev, representing Italy and Slovenia; Martin Garcia Garcia from Spain; Eva Gevorgyan representing Russia and Armenia; Jakub Kuszlik and Kamil Pacholec from Poland; the Japanese Aimi Kobayashi and Kyohei Sorita; Chinese Hao Rao; and Hyuk Lee from South Korea.
Between Monday and Wednesday, each will perform one of Chopin’s two piano concertos, with the orchestra, in front of the public of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, traditionally packed for concerts.
The winner is to be announced Wednesday evening and will receive a gold medal and a 40,000 euro ($45,000) prize funded by the Polish president, as well as prestigious recording and concert contracts. The second prize is worth 30,000 euros ($35,000) and the third prize is 20,000 euros ($23,000) and various prizes for other finalists, funded by the Polish government, musical institutions and individuals.
Past winners include Martha Argerich, Garrick Ohlsson from the United States, Poland’s Krystian Zimerman and Artur Blechacz and Seong-Jin Cho from South Korea.
The first edition of the competition was held in 1927. It normally takes place every five years. The current edition — in which 87 pianists participated — has been postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Poland’s best known and most beloved classical music composer and pianist, Chopin was born in 1810 in Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw to a Polish mother and a French father. He left Poland at the age of 19 to deepen his musical training in Vienna and then in Paris, where he settled, composed, gave concerts and taught piano. He died on October 17, 1849 in Paris and was buried in the Père Lachaise cemetery. His heart is in the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.
There were no auditions on Sunday, when traditional celebrations of the anniversary of Chopin’s death took place at the Holy Cross, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Requiem”, music that Chopin asked to play at his funeral.
The auditions can be followed live on the Chopin Institute’s YouTube channel and on the Polish public radio channel.
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