Eric Lu of the USA has been voted the winner of the 19th International Chopin piano competition, which began on 2nd October and was held in Warsaw, Poland.
The 17-member jury voted as follows:
- 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)
In addition, special prizes are as follows:
- 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 Ka?du?ski (Poland)
The auditions for the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition began on 3 October, 2025. Eleven of the highest-rated pianists performed in the Finals. Accompanied by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrzej Boreyko, each of them performed one of Fryderyk Chopin’s two piano concertos and Polonaise-Fantasy, Op. 61.
A record number of over 640 young artists from the farthest corners of the world applied to participate in the 19th Chopin Competition. 162 people took part in the preliminary rounds, while 84 performers from 19 countries competed in the main competition.
The largest group of participants were Chinese – the country’s representation included as many as 28 pianists! In terms of the number of participants, the groups from Poland and Japan took second place (13 people each). Five Canadian citizens also performed on the Philharmonic stage, four pianists from the United States, three performers each from Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Great Britain, and Italy, as well as representatives from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Spain, Malaysia, Portugal, and Vietnam, among others.
A concert will be held tomorrow at the Teatr Wielki — Polish National Opera, featuring the first of three concerts by the winners. It will be broadcast on the Chopin Institute’s YouTube channel.
