The group includes nine pianists from Poland, eight from Japan, seven from China, five from Italy, and three each from the United States, Russia and South Korea, according to a jury verdict announced shortly before midnight on Wednesday.
In the second-stage auditions, which begin on Saturday, participants will perform a recital lasting between 30 and 40 minutes and consisting of a selection of Chopin’s ballades, waltzes, scherzi and polonaises.
The prizewinners will be announced on October 20. The top winner will receive the Gold Medal and EUR 40,000 in prize money.
As in previous editions of the event, public broadcaster Polish Radio will honour the best interpreter of Chopin’s mazurkas.
The competition jury, chaired by Polish pianist Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, features prominent pianists and past laureates of the Warsaw competition, including Dang Thai Son, Nelson Goerner, Adam Harasiewicz, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Kevin Kenner, Arthur Moreira-Lima, Piotr Paleczny, and Dina Joffe, alongside British musicologist and Chopin scholar John Rink.
(mk/gs)