American pianist Eric Lu was awarded first prize at the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw on Monday.
The decision was made by a 17-person international jury, chaired by American pianist Garrick Ohlsson. The winner receives a 60,000 Euro prize and a gold medal funded by the President of Poland. Lu performed Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasy in A-flat major and his Second Piano Concerto, accompanied by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrzej Boreyko.
Lu, 27, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. He won the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2018 and has performed with the Boston, London and Chicago symphony orchestras, among others. “I’m grateful for the jury to bestow me this honour. This is a dream come true,” said Lu, after the announcement.
Second prize was awarded to Canadian Kevin Chen, while Zitong Wang from China came third. In all, six prizes were awarded, with a number of special prizes also given out. In total, 11 finalists were selected from 84 participants in the main competition, which began on 3rd October. This year's competition attracted applications from 640 young artists from around the world, a record number. China provided 28 of the participants, with 13 each representing Poland and Japan.
The awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday evening (21st October), live-streamed on the Fryderyk Chopin Institute’s YouTube channel, and will include performances by the main laureates and two special prize winners.
Held every five years around the anniversary of Chopin’s death, the competition is one of the oldest and most prestigious music events of its kind in the world, and this year begins a series of special celebrations for its centenary. Former Laureates have included Seong-Jin Cho, Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, Mitsuko Uchida, Krystian Zimerman, Vladimir Ashkenazy and this year’s jury chair, Garrick Ohlsson.
Main prizes
1st Prize – Eric Lu (USA)
2nd Prize – Kevin Chen (Canada)
3rd Prize – Zitong Wang (China)
4th Prize – Tianyao Lyu (China); Shiori Kuwahara (Japan)
5th Prize – Piotr Alexewicz (Poland); Vincent Ong (Malaysia)
6th Prize – William Yang (USA)
Special prizes
Polish Radio Award for the best performance of Mazurkas – Jehuda Prokopowicz (Poland)
Warsaw Philharmonic Award for the best performance of a Concerto – Tianyao Lyu (China)
Krystian Zimerman Award for the best performance of a Sonata – Zitong Wang (China)
Fryderyk Chopin Society Award for the best performance of a Polonaise – Tianyou Li (China)
Bella Davidovich Award for the best performance of a Ballade – Adam Kałduński (Poland)
