24 October 2025
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Tune in to watch the three finalists perform piano concertos by Prokofiev and Brahms at the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition - livestream at 7pm MT
Earlier this week, Honens announced the three finalists vying for the top prize at the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition, following two rounds of Semifinals, during which 10 distinguished Semifinalists participated in solo and chamber recitals at the Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall, Rozsa Centre.
They are Carter Johnson (29, Canada), Élisabeth Pion (29, Canada) and Anastasia Vorotnaya (30, Russia/Spain).
The three finalists will compete for the title of 2025 Honens Gold Laureate, winning one of the world’s largest prizes of its kind – $100,000 CAD and a comprehensive, three-year artistic development and career accelerator program.
You can watch the finals, live, at 7pm MT!
Tonight's Finals
The judges:
The members of the Second Jury, who evaluated the Semifinalists, are Philippe Bianconi, Jenny Bilfield, Janina Fialkowska, Leila Getz, Anne-Marie McDermott, Roberto Plano, and Awadagin Pratt. They are also evaluating Johnson, Pion, and Vorotnaya in the Finals, and will select the 2025 Honens Gold, Silver, and Bronze Laureates, announced following Finals II this evening, October 24.
In the first round of Finals, which took place yesterday, Johnson performed Brahms’ Piano Quintet in F minor Op 34, Pion chose Franck’s Piano Quintet in F minor Op 14 and Vorotnaya Dvořák’s Piano Quintet in A Major Op 81. All three performed with the New York City-based Isidore String Quartet.
The repertoire:
In this second and final round, commencing 7pm MT, they will play a concerto with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra under conductor Elias Grandy:
Johnson: Prokofiev Concerto No 2
Pion: Prokofiev Concerto No 3
Vorotnaya: Brahms Concerto No 2
Each Finalist also participates in a 30-minute interview with Canadian arts journalist Katherine Duncan. Both rounds take place at the Jack Singer Concert Hall, Werklund Centre.
The pianist who best demonstrates the ideal of Honens’ Complete Artist philosophy will be named the 2025 Honens Gold Laureate. The Awards Show follows Finals II; it will be hosted by Katherine Duncan, previous CBC host and producer, and Paolo Pietropaolo, host of In Concert, the award-winning classical music radio program on CBC Music. For all event details and artist biographies, please see the backgrounder.
Full details, including tickets, can be found on the Honens website.
WATCH THE FINALS LIVE HERE!