Seong-Jin Cho, of South Korea (pictured), wins the 17th Chopin Competition

For the first time in its history, a South Korean has won the Chopin Competition. Last night, at half past midnight, the 17-person jury of the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, led by Prof. Katarzyna Popowa-Zydron, announced the results to a swarm of people waiting anxiously in the lobby of the Warsaw Filharmonie concert hall.

Main prizes
1^st prize (30 000 €) and gold medal - Seong-Jin Cho (South Korea)
2^nd prize (25 000 €) and silver medal - Charles Richard-Hamelin (Canada)
3^rd prize (20 000 €) and bronze medal - Kate Liu (United States)
4^th prize (15 000 €) - Eric Lu (United States)
5^th prize (10 000 €) - Yike (Tony) Yang (Canada)
6^th prize (7 000 €) - Dmitry Shishkin (Russia)

Honourable mentions (4000 €)
Aljoša Jurinic (Croatia)
Aimi Kobayashi (Japan)
Szymon Nehring (Poland)
Georgijs Osokins (Latvia)
 
Special prizes
Fryderyk Chopin Society Prize for best performance of a polonaise (3 000 €) - Seong-Jin Cho (South Korea)
Polish Radio Prize for best performance of mazurkas (5 000 €) – Kate Liu (United States)
Warsaw Philharmonic Prize for best performance of a concerto (3 000 €) – not awarded
Krystian Zimerman Prize for best performance of a sonata (10 000 €) - Charles Richard-Hamelin (Canada)

At the start of the competition, four piano makers had been present on the concert platform: Fazioli, Kawai, Steinway and Yamaha. At the finals, five of the finalists chose to play Steinway, the other five Yamaha. Winner Seong-Jin Cho played Steinway, as did Third Prize Winner Kate Liu. Second Prize Winner Charles Richard-Hamelin performed on the Yamaha.

At a press conference, directly afterwards, the smiling 21-year old Seong-Jin Cho was asked how he felt:
’I decided to enter this competition when I was 11! I had listened to it in 2005, and it became my dream to enter this. For me, the second and third rounds were really tough… I mean, really! The Finals weren’t so bad at all. I actually had to check on YouTube afterwards how I played, because I couldn’t remember!’
 
The auditions for the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition began on 3 October; 78 pianists from 20 countries took part. Appearing in the finals were 10 pianists from 8 countries, who performed one of Chopin’s piano concertos with the Warsaw Philharmonic, conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk. Nine of the participants selected the E minor Concerto and only one, Charles Richard-Hamelin, the F minor.

Pianists from all over the world born from 1985 to 1999 were permitted to apply for the Competition. The Chopin Institute received the record number of over 450 applications from all over the world. 160 pianists were selected, who took part in public Preliminary Round in April of this year in Warsaw. From this group, the jury admitted 77 pianists to the main competition. Seven pianists – winners of the international competitions mentioned in the Rules and Regulations, as well as the prizewinners at the Polish Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition 2015 – ensured themselves participation in the October competition, bypassing the Preliminary Round. From among this group, six people resigned from participation in the Competition before it began.  Fourteen contestants came from Poland, 13 from China, 12 from Japan, 8 from South Korea, 6 from Russia, 4 from the US, 3 each from Italy, Canada and the UK, 2 from the Czech Republic and 1 representative each from Belarus, Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Latvia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Pianist Editor Erica Worth’s review will appear shortly online, and inside the next issue, out end of November.