A graduate of the Juilliard School in New York, he has developed a fine career, giving recitals and appearing with orchestras across the world.
The day’s remaining nine contestants include his compatriot Zhexiang Li, Philipp Lynov, who takes part in the competition under a neutral flag, Ruben Micieli from Italy, Nathalia Milstein from France, Vincent Ong from Malaysia, Yumeka Nakagawa from Japan, Eric Lu from the United States, and Piotr Pawlak from Poland.
Eric Lu is making a comeback to the Warsaw Competition after a lapse of ten years.
In 2015, at the age of 17, he won fourth prize and was among the audience’s favourites.
Poland’s Pawlak, 27, is also trying his luck again, having collected numerous international awards in recent years, including first place at the Maj Lind Piano Competition in Helsinki in 2022 and 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.
A total of forty pianists representing 14 countries are participating in the second stage of the event, which ends on Sunday.
The performances are being streamed live on the official YouTube channel of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute and remain available for replay after each session.
(mk/ał)