The day's lineup included Chinese contestants, who accounted for the most sizeable group, as well as Canadians, Germans, the British, and Poles. The local entrants appearing before an international jury on Saturday were Michał Basista and Piotr Alexewicz.
Basista, 21, is a student of the Music Academy in Kraków, southern Poland. Last year, he was a semi-finalist of the Borderland Chopin International Competition in Texas.
Alexewicz, 25, is a graduate of the Academy of Music in Wrocław, south-western Poland. He is currently honing his skills in Switzerland, at the Zurich University of the Arts (Hochschule der Künste Zürich). This year, he won Second Prize at the Hilton Head Piano Competition in the United States and was a semi-finalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. In 2024, Alexewicz won the Concerto Competition at the Piano Texas Festival, performing Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.
A total of 84 pianists from 19 countries vie for glory in this year’s Chopin Competition, including 28 from China, 13 from Japan and 13 from Poland.
The names of forty pianists who advance to the second stage are to be announced on Tuesday, October 7.
(mk/mm)