Cover Chinese American pianist Eric Lu is named the winner of the Chopin piano competition 2025 (Photo: Instagram/@chopininstitute)
Chinese American pianist Eric Lu is named the winner of the Chopin piano competition 2025 (Photo: Instagram/@chopininstitute)
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The Chopin International Piano Competition 2025 proved to be a landmark year for Asian pianists, as Eric Lu, Kevin Chen and Zitong Wang captured the top prizes at the world’s most prestigious piano competition.
Held on October 20 in Warsaw, Poland, the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition honoured three winners, all of Chinese heritage. Chinese American pianist Eric Lu claimed the gold medal, Chinese Canadian pianist Kevin Chen secured second place and China’s Zitong Wang took home the third prize.
Lu, 27, was already an acclaimed musician before this year’s victory, having won the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2018. In 2021, he joined the distinguished list of Avery Fisher Career Grant recipients, a group that includes Yuja Wang, Hilary Hahn and Joshua Bell.
Chen, 20, is equally celebrated in the classical music world. He has performed with major ensembles such as the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Taipei Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Hungarian National Orchestra and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande.
Wang, 26, from Inner Mongolia, made her public debut at the Forbidden City Hall in Beijing at the age of 13. Her career highlights include top honours at the Rosalyn Tureck Bach Competition in New York in 2010, and victories in Princeton in 2020 and Ferrol, Spain, in 2022.
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Above Chinese American pianist Eric Lu competing at Chopin 2025 (Photo: Instagram/@chopininstitute)
Chinese American pianist Eric Lu competing at Chopin 2025 (Photo: Instagram/@chopininstitute)
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Held every five years, the Chopin International Piano Competition—named after the revered Polish composer Frédéric Chopin—has been regarded as one of the most prestigious global piano events since its founding in 1927. Modelled after the Olympic spirit, contestants are required to perform only Chopin’s works.
Asian pianists have a rich history at the competition. In 1980, Vietnam’s Đặng Thái Sơn became the first Asian pianist to win, setting the stage for greater representation from the region. Other celebrated winners include Li Yundi of China (2000) and Cho Seong-jin of South Korea (2015).
According to Chopin’s official website, this year’s largest group of participants came from China, with 28 pianists competing. Including overseas Chinese performers such as Chen and Lu, that number is even higher. This surge is often linked to the influence of early Chinese stars such as Lang Lang, whose global rise in the late 1990s and 2000s inspired a new generation of young pianists across China.
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Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
