Canadian pianist Elisabeth Pion named Gold Laureate of 2025 Honens International Piano Competition

Canadian pianist Elisabeth Pion was named the Gold Laureate of the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition Friday at jack Singer Hall in Calgary.

Canadian Elisabeth Pion was named the Gold Laureate at the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition Friday night at Jack Singer Hall in Calgary.

Pion, who was born in Montreal, received $100,000 and a comprehensive, three-year artist development program valued at $500,000. She also won the Audience Choice Award, which included $5,000.

In Friday’s finals, Pion performed Cesar Franck’s Piano Quintet in F minor Op. 14 with the Isidore String Quartet, and Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major Op. 26 accompanied by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor Elias Grandy.

Another Canadian, Carter Johnson of Campbell River, B.C., was named the Silver Laureate, which brought a prize of $40,000.

Russian pianist Anastasia Vorotnaya was the Bronze Laureate, winning $20,000, in addition to winning $5,000 for Best Performance of a Commissioned Work for her performance of Fracture, by Iranian-Canadian composer Iman Habibi.

Earlier this week, Calgary pianist Kevin Chen won the silver medal at the Chopin piano competition in Warsaw, Poland, so it was as big a week for Canadian classical pianists as it was for the Blue Jays.

“The Honens International Piano Competition has brought together some of the most gifted pianists of their generation,” said Honens Artistic Director Jon Kimura Parker, in a release. “They all showed passion, insight, sensitivity, and emotional and intellectual acuity as musicians.

“Congratulations to all the semifinalists, and especially to Élisabeth. I, along with the rest of the Honens team, look forward to working with you and watching your career blossom.”

Pion was born in Saint-Hyacinthe and studied in Pinerolo, Italy, London (UK) and Montreal. She lives now in London, where she relocated for advanced study, including a class on improvisation.

It was all done with an eye and ear towards elevating the experience of performing.

“Performance,” she said, “is a way of sharing a deep connection with others in real time, enveloped in a heightened sense of consciousness, of transcendence through art.”

Pion’s three-year artistic development package may include gigs in major markets such as Berlin, London, New York and Toronto, coaching and mentorship, media training, business training, language training, artistic residencies and the production, release, distribution and marketing of professional recordings.

.“We are honoured to welcome Élisabeth to the Honens family, who demonstrated artistic excellence and a supreme commitment to Honens’ values,” said Honens President and CEO Amanda Smith. “Her integrity and humanistic perspective of what it means to be a complete artist are an inspiration, and not only in music.”