Szymon Nehring was also awarded two prized by the audience (the Or Jehuda and Jezreel Valley awards), the Young Jury Award, as well as awards for the best Chopin performance and the Advance Studies Prize –for pianists up to the age of 22. Nehring defeated 30 pianists from around the globe. Daniel Petrica Ciobanu of Romania won second prize, while Sara Daneshpour from the United States took third prize. The remaining finalists include Jaehong Park (South Korea), Xiaoyu Liu (Canada) and Yevgeny Yontov (Israel).
The Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv is a prestigious competition for young pianists (aged 18 to 32), organised once every three years. In 1974, Jan Jacob Bistritzky established the competition to promote the careers of young and outstanding pianists. During the competition, pianists are to present both classic and romantic repertoires as well as play pieces by Israeli composers; moreover, they play recitals, chamber music and orchestral concerts. In 2017, the competition took place between 25th April and 11th May. The jury, chaired by Arie Vardi, was comprised of Hui-Qiao Bao, Josef Bardanashvili, Michel Béroff, Peter Donohoe, Janina Fiałkowska, Ian Hobson, Menahem Pressler, Eliso Virsaladze, Ramzi Yassa and Dina Yoffe. The of the competition winners in previous editions include Emanuel Ax, Giorgia Tomassi, Igor Czetujew and Daniłł Trifonow.
Szymon Nehring was born in Kraków in 1995. He began taking piano lessons at the age of five. He is the laureate of numerous piano competitions and was a finalist of the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition, where he received an honourable mention and won the Audience Award.
Sources: promotional materials from the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition; originally written in Polish, translated by NR, 12 May 2017