(Warsaw) The jury of the 18e Chopin International Piano Competition crowned Montrealer Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu. The news broke Thursday morning local Warsaw time. The laureate wins a scholarship of 40,000 euros (approximately $ 57,400) and takes advantage of an extraordinary springboard to launch his career as a pianist.
The winner’s first reaction to the announcement of his victory was quite simply, “Oh my God! I do not know what to say. “He then recovered by declaring to have dreamed of this moment” like all the other participants present on this prestigious stage. ”
Then the young Liu, 24, added that having the opportunity “to play Chopin in Warsaw is one of the most beautiful things you can imagine. ”
“I am truly honored by this award, of course, as well as by the confidence of the jury and the reception that I have received in recent days,” he continued.
According to the biography available on the competition site, Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu graduated from the Montreal Conservatory of Music. He studied with Richard Raymond and had the opportunity to play with the Orchester symphonique de Montréal, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic and the Orchester des Amériques.
A remarkable participation in the Chopin Competition opens the doors of the great concert halls of the world to pianists and usually paves the way for excellent recording contracts with major publishing houses.
The competition, which takes place every five years, had to be postponed last year due to the pandemic.
The other finalists were Leonora Armellini from Italy; JJ Jun Li Bui from Canada; Alexander Gadjiev from Italy and Slovenia; Martin Garcia Garcia from Spain; Eva Gevorgyan from Russia and Armenia; Jakub Kuszlik and Kamil Pacholec from Poland; Aimi Kobayashi and Kyohei Sorita from Japan; Hao Rao from China; and Hyuk Lee from South Korea.
Observers stressed that the competition was particularly tough this year and that it was very difficult to identify a clear favorite.
All the finalists were “exceptional artists,” commented Aleksander Laskowski, spokesperson for the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, which is organizing the competition.
The second prize was awarded ex aequo to Alexander Gadjiev and Kyohei Sorita, while the third prize went to Martin Garcia Garcia.
Quebecer Charles Richard-Hamelin finished second in the previous competition presented in 2015.