Canadian Bruce Liu wins prestigious international piano competition
Share
WARSAW, Poland -
Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu of Canada was named early Thursday as the winner of the 40,000-euro ($45,000) first prize in the 18th Frederic Chopin international piano competition, a prestigious event that launches pianists' world careers.
The announcement from the jury came just hours after Liu played as the last entrant among the 12 finalists, performing Chopin's concerto in E minor, opus 11 with the orchestra at the packed National Philharmonic in Warsaw. His inspired performance was met with huge applause.
"Oh my god. I don't know what to say, honestly," Liu said after being name winner.
"We have been dreaming with all these people here for this prestigious stage," the 24-year-old born in Paris said in English.
"Being able to play Chopin in Warsaw is one of the best things you can imagine, of course, so I'm truly honored for this award, of course, and for this jury's trust and for all the warmth I have received in recent days," Liu said.
The second prize and 30,000 euros ($35,000) went jointly to Alexander Gadjiev, representing Italy and Slovenia, and Kyohei Sorita of Japan. Gadjiev also won Krystian Zimerman's prize of 10,000 euros ($11,800) for the best sonata performance.
The third prize of 20,000 euros ($23,000) was awarded to Martin Garcia Garcia of Spain, who also won the 5,000 euros ($5,800) prize for best concerto performance.
The fourth prize and 15,000 euros ($17,000) was shared by Aimi Kobayashi of Japan and Poland's Jakub Kuszlik, who also won best mazurka performance prize and 5,000 euros. Italy's Leonora Armellini was awarded the fifth prize of 10,000 euros ($11,600), while the sixth prize and 7,000 euros ($8,000) went to Canada's J.J. Jun Li Bui.
The first prize was funded by the office of Poland's president, and other prizes were funded by the government, state culture institutions and by private individuals.
High ranking in the renowned competition opens the world's top concert halls to the pianists and paves the way to recordings with best known record companies.
Jury head Katarzyna Popowa-Zydron said after the announcement that the level of the pianists was very high and made the award decisions very hard for the 17 jurors. She called the participants "wonderful young people."
During the competition, she had said that apart from being excellent pianists, the participants should also show sensitivity and bring freshness to the music.
"I try to look for a rapport between the performer and Chopin," Popowa-Zydron said in an interview. Music is a "message from a person, and (the musicians) should know what kind of person Chopin was."
Bowing to their artistry, the jury allowed two more finalists this year than usual. The competition, held every five years, was postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic.
Among previous winners are Maurizio Pollini of Italy, Argentina's Martha Argerich, Garrick Ohlsson from the United States, Poland's Krystian Zimerman and Rafal Blechacz, and Seong-Jin Cho of South Korea.
Chopin, Poland's best known and beloved classical music composer and pianist, was born in 1810 in Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw to a Polish mother and a French father. He left Poland at 19 to broaden his musical education in Vienna and then in Paris, where he settled, composing, giving concerts and teaching the piano. He died on Oct. 17, 1849, in Paris and is buried at the Pere Lachaise cemetery. His heart is at the Holy Cross Church in Warsaw.
A motion from the federal New Democrats initially calling on Canada to recognize the 'State of Palestine' passed amid widespread acrimony on Monday, after the Liberals drastically altered its wording to see the government simply work towards that aim as part of a two-state solution.
Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience.
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
An Ohio mother whose 16-month-old daughter died after being left home alone in a playpen for 10 days last summer while she went on vacation was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
In a Barrie courtroom on Monday, a retired high school teacher from the Niagara Region pleaded guilty to sexual touching and obtaining sexual services from a 15-year-old boy in Collingwood in 2021.
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Family of a Calgary man killed after a 30-hour standoff with police last week are speaking out, sharing details of the tense and heart-wrenching experience.
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw says three months into 2024, the city has already seen more than double the number of carjackings it did this time last year.
The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) says a provincewide one day strike will be held on Wednesday this week, the same day the provincial government is set to reveal its latest budget.
Moose Jaw police say an 18-year-old woman who was at work has died from injuries she sustained in a collision with a vehicle being driven by her co-worker last Thursday.
An attorney facing criminal charges for illegally accessing Michigan voting machines after the 2020 election was arrested Monday after a hearing in a separate case in Federal Court in Washington, D.C.
Twenty Palestinians were killed in the early hours of Tuesday in Israeli air strikes on Rafah and central parts of the Gaza Strip, Gaza health officials said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised a live-fire drill of nuclear-capable "super-large" multiple rocket launchers designed to target South Korea's capital as he vowed to boost his war deterrent in the face of deepening confrontations with rivals, state media said Tuesday.
The infamous "Access Hollywood" video in which Donald Trump bragged about grabbing women sexually without asking permission will not be shown to jurors at the former president's hush-money criminal trial, a New York judge ruled Monday.
Moscow will not relent in its invasion of Ukraine and plans to create a buffer zone to help protect against long-range Ukrainian strikes and cross-border raids Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.
An Ohio mother whose 16-month-old daughter died after being left home alone in a playpen for 10 days last summer while she went on vacation was sentenced Monday to life in prison with no chance of parole.
A motion from the federal New Democrats initially calling on Canada to recognize the 'State of Palestine' passed amid widespread acrimony on Monday, after the Liberals drastically altered its wording to see the government simply work towards that aim as part of a two-state solution.
Members of Parliament stood in solemn reflection in the House of Commons Monday in tribute to the late Brian Mulroney, the former prime minister of Canada who died last month.
The federal government is challenging a court decision directing it to step up the pace of judicial appointments to address an 'untenable' number of vacancies.
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.
A U.S. government research team found no significant evidence of brain injury among a group of federal employees reporting symptoms of the "Havana syndrome" ailment that emerged in 2016, according to studies published in a medical journal on Monday.
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
The COVID-19 lockdown for humans was not an opportunity for wildlife to run free, in fact a new study found herbivores tend to be more active around people, while carnivores remained hidden.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board is investigating a fatal crash in San Antonio, Texas, involving a Ford electric vehicle that may have been using a partially automated driving system.
A movie set armourer is challenging her conviction on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film "Rust," court records released Monday show.
R. Kelly’s lawyer told an appeals court Monday that all kinds of legitimate organizations — even college fraternities — could be deemed racketeering organizations under a law used to convict the R&B superstar at his Brooklyn trial of sexually abusing young fans, including children, for decades.
On-demand U.S. audio and video streams for 'I'm Just Ken' topped three million streams in the week after Ryan Gosling's Oscars performance, a 422 per cent increase from the prior week.
A traveller who accused WestJet of failing to deliver his luggage during a weeks-long trip from Canada to the U.K. is not entitled to compensation, B.C.'s small claims tribunal has ruled.
Two former employees of a Kitchener, Ont., grocer said their Ministry of Labour cases were settled, but only one has been paid what they were allegedly owed.
Elon Musk said he is 'almost always' sober during his late-night — or, in some cases, very early morning — posting sessions on his social media platform, X.
A small stone vial discovered in southeastern Iran contained a red cosmetic that was likely used as a lip coloring nearly 4,000 years ago, according to archaeologists.
Former Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner on Monday said she supported a local New York official’s order banning female sports teams with transgender athletes from using county-owned facilities.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw says three months into 2024, the city has already seen more than double the number of carjackings it did this time last year.
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.