Bruce Liu the Winner of the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition!
And there we have it! The jury of the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition has announced the 8 winners of this year’s edition of the competition!
After an excedingly exciting and high stakes 18th edition of the International Chopin Competition and after many hours of deliberations, the jury, headed by chair Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, reached their decision: eight pianists will receive awards this year!
- 6th place: J J Jun Li Bui (Canada)
- 5th place: Leonora Armellini (Italy)
- 4th place: Aimi Kobayashi (Japan) & Jakub Kuszlik (Poland)
- 3rd place: Martin Garcia Garcia (Spain)
- 2nd place: Alexander Gadjiev (Italy/Slovenia) & Kyohei Sorita (Japan)
- and, last, but surely not least, 1st prize goes to Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu of Canada!
1st Place: Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu
Born on 8th May 1997 in Paris, he graduated from the Montreal Conservatoire under Richard Raymond and is currently a student of Dang Thai Son. He has performed with major ensembles including the Cleveland Orchestra, Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra of the Americas, and has toured with the China NCPA Orchestra in North America. Recent seasons have brought two successive tours of China with the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine and the Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra (including appearances at the National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing Concert Hall and Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre), and the Orchestre Lamoureux at Salle Gaveau. He has won prizes at international piano competitions in Sendai, Montreal, Tel Aviv and Viseu.
2nd Place: Alexander Gadjiev (Italy/Slovenia)
Born on 23rd December 1994. After studying for more than a decade with his father Siavush Gadjiev, he then studied at the Mozarteum under the guidance of Pavel Gililov and is now completing his Konzertexamen studies at the Hanns Eisler Hochschule in Berlin under Eldar Nebolsin. A BBC New Generation Artist 2019–22, he has won first prize in the 9th International Piano Competition in Hamamatsu, the Monte-Carlo Piano Masters in 2018, and the Sydney International Piano Competition in 2021. He has worked with symphony orchestras in Monte Carlo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Prague, Katowice (NOSPR) and elsewhere. His debut album, Literary Fantasies, featuring pieces by Liszt and Schumann, was released in 2018.
2nd Place: Kyohei Sorita (Japan)
Born on 1 September 1994 in Tokyo. He is currently a student of Piotr Paleczny at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, having studied at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with Mikhail Voskresensky. He has worked with such ensembles as the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale Rai in Turin, NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo, Russian National Orchestra of Moscow and Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. He has won first prize and the audience prize in the Japan Music Competition (2012) and first prize in the Cantu International Piano and Orchestra Competition in Italy (2015). In 2020, he made his debut at the Vienna Groser Musikvereinssaal.
3rd Place: Martín García García
Born on 3rd December 1996. He began learning piano at the age of five, initially with Natalia Mazoun and Ilya Goldfarb. He then studied with Galina Eguizarova at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid and with Jerome Rose at the Mannes School of Music in New York. He has won prizes in numerous piano competitions in his native Spain (in Barcelona, San Sebastian and Madrid) and abroad, including in Moscow. He recently won first prize in the Cleveland International Piano Competition. He has given recitals and concertos with orchestra (e.g. a tour with the Freixenet Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Josep Pons), and participated in festivals and masterclasses (incl. with Vladimir Krainev).
4th Place: Aimi Kobayashi
Born on 23rd September 1995 in Ube, Japan. She is a student of Meng-Chieh Liu at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She is a laureate of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition for Young Artists and the Asian International Chopin Competition, and in 2015 she reached the final of the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. She has performed with many renowned orchestras, including the Orchestra of the 18th Century (under Frans Bruggen), Moscow Virtuosi (Vladimir Spivakov), Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich and Seattle Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared at Carnegie Hall and Tokyo Opera City. Her interpretations of works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt have been released on Warner Classics.
4th Place: Jakub Kuszlik
Born on 23rd December 1996. He is a student of Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń at the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. He has won second prize in the Ignacy Jan Paderewski International Piano Competition in Bydgoszcz and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition, and third prize in the ‘Top of the World’ International Competition in Tromso. In 2017 he gave a Chopin recital at the Polish Radio Concert Studio in Warsaw. A year later, he was accompanied by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra in Paderewski’s Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 17. He has also performed in many countries of Europe, including Germany, Norway and Iceland, as well as in Japan and the US.
5th Place: Leonora Armellini
Born on 25th June 1992. At the age of 17 she graduated summa cum laude from the Santa Cecilia Academy of Music in Rome under the guidance of Sergio Perticaroli and then studied with Lilya Zilberstein (Musikhochschule Hamburg) and Boris Petrushansky (Accademia Pianistica di Imola). A finalist in the 16th Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition, she has performed in concerts and festivals around the world, including at Carnegie Hall in New York, the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and Warsaw Philharmonic. As a soloist she has performed with many ensembles, including the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia and Cracow Symphony Orchestra. She has recorded extensively, including both the concertos of Fryderyk Chopin.
6th Place: J J Jun Li Bui
Born on 10rh June 2004. He is studying at the Oberlin Conservatory with Dang Thai Son and is a prizewinner of the Hanoi (2018), Aarhus (2017) and Midwest International (2016) piano competitions, as well as competitions for young pianists: the Beijing Chopin Competition (2019) and Van Cliburn (2019). He performed with the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, Milton Philharmonic, Academy Chamber Orchestra of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Kindred Spirits Orchestra, Greater Toronto Philharmonic, Hanoi Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra of the China Central Conservatory of Music and China Guiyang Symphony Orchestra. In trio with with Vivian Kukiel (violin) and Matthew Christakos (cello), he has won national competitions and performed on many special occasions, including the 10th ‘Royal Occasion’ at the Koerner Hall in Toronto.
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The Chopin Competition is the most important musical event in Poland and one of the most important classical music events in the world. Apart from its huge role in popularising Fryderyk Chopin's music, it discovers the greatest pianistic talents, providing young musicians with the most effective start in their international careers.
The 18th International Chopin Piano Competition took place at the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, from 2nd October to 23rd October 2021.
Congratulations to all the finalists and winners!
The announcement of the results traditionally took place in the main foyer of Warsaw’s National Philharmonic. The event was attended by the 12 finalists of the competition: Leonora Armellini (Italy), J J Jun Li Bui (Canada), Alexander Gadjiev (Italy/Slovenia), Martín García García (Spain), Eva Gevorgyan (Russia/Armenia), Aimi Kobayashi (Japan), Jakub Kuszlik (Poland), Hyuk Lee (South Korea), Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu (Canada), Kamil Pacholec (Poland), Hao Rao (China), and Kyohei Sorita (Japan).
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