Forty pianists from 14 countries, including four from Poland, are vying for one of classical music’s most coveted prizes.
Each second-stage participant will perform a 40- to 50-minute recital featuring Chopin’s preludes, polonaises and other works.
The group includes 14 pianists from China, six from Japan, three from South Korea and three from the United States.
Contestants also represent Chinese Taipei, Italy, France, Georgia, Malaysia and Britain, while Russian pianist Philipp Lynov is competing under a neutral flag.
Poland’s hopes rest on Piotr Alexewicz, Adam Kałduński, Piotr Pawlak and Yehuda Prokopowicz.
Alexewicz, 25, studied at the Academy of Music in Wrocław, southwestern Poland, and is now at the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland. He won second prize at the Hilton Head Piano Competition in the United States this year and was a semifinalist at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth Texas.
Piotr Alexewicz. Photo: Wojciech Grzędziński/Chopin Institute/NIFC
Kałduński, 29, is a graduate of the Music Academy in Bydgoszcz, north-central Poland. He reached the semifinals in the 2021 Chopin Competition. His honours include first prize at the International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists in Beijing in 2019 and top awards at the Premio Amadeus Competition in Lazise, Italy, in 2023.
Pawlak, 27, has collected numerous international prizes, including first place at the Maj Lind Piano Competition in Helsinki in 2022 and the Chopin Competition in Darmstadt in 2017.
He won second prize at the Chopin Competition on Historical Instruments in Warsaw in 2023. Trained also as an organist, he is now studying conducting, and has won national and international Olympiads in mathematics and computer science.
Prokopowicz, 19, is a student at the Music Academy in Kraków. He has won prizes at more than 30 competitions in Poland and abroad and performed at the Artur Rubinstein Festival in Łódź, central Poland, in 2022 and 2024.
The winner of this year's competition will be announced on October 20.
First held in 1927, the Warsaw event is among the world’s most prestigious piano competitions.
Past winners include renowned pianists such as Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, Garrick Ohlsson, Krystian Zimerman, Rafał Blechacz and Bruce Liu.
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Click on the audio player above to listen to an interview with music critic Andrzej Sułek.