The XIX International Chopin Piano Competition () was held from 2 to 23 October 2025 in Warsaw, Poland.
The 2025 competition marked the beginning of the International Chopin Piano Competition's centenary celebrations and drew a record 642 applicants. Following a preliminary round, in which 162 candidates were selected to perform, 85 pianists were admitted to the main stage, including 19 prize-winners of other major piano competitions who qualified directly. The competition proceeded through three solo stages, after which eleven pianists advanced to the final. For the first time, finalists were required to perform the Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op. 61, in addition to one of Chopin's two piano concertos with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.
The competition was won by Eric Lu of the United States, with Kevin Chen of Canada taking second place and Zitong Wang of China third. The jury's verdict was met with some surprise by commentators, as no clear frontrunner had emerged during the competition, in contrast to previous editions. Jury chairman Garrick Ohlsson noted that the deliberations had been long and difficult.
Background The Chopin Competition is considered Poland's most important musical event and one of the most prestigious piano competitions in the world. Commentators have called the event the "Olympics of the piano world"; Joshua Barone of The New York Times wrote that victory can be "just as glorious as a gold medal". The competition generates a nationwide cultural phenomenon described as "Chopin-mania"; according to the Chopin Institute, tickets released online in October 2024 sold out within 30 minutes, with those for the finals selling out in two minutes. This demand extended to the box office, with hundreds of people queuing for hours, often from before 5 a.m., for a limited number of standby tickets to the daily auditions. Jury member Nelson Goerner called the public's engagement a "kind of national passion", asking, "where else would people queue for hours to hear a dozen pianists perform the same waltz?"
Pianists born between 1995 and 2009 were eligible to participate. A record 642 pianists applied, which Fryderyk Chopin Institute Director Artur Szklener characterized as a sign of both the expanding pool of excellent pianists and the increasing difficulty talented musicians face in forging careers in a commercialized market. , who has served as the competition's official photographer since 2005, noted a significant shift in the profile of the participants. He observed that while competitors in 2005 were often at the very beginning of their careers, the pianists in recent editions are "young professionals" who arrive with established careers and use the competition to "consolidate" their standing in the classical music world. The competitor pool also reflected a notable geographical shift, with Asian pianists particularly prominent.
Centenary celebrations The 2025 edition held special significance as it marked the beginning of the competition's centenary celebrations. The official 100th anniversary falls in 2027, but the Fryderyk Chopin Institute initiated a five-year series of events and projects that began on 2 October 2025 and will culminate with the 20th edition in 2030. Director Artur Szklener said the competition represented "a century of musical heritage, a galaxy of the most outstanding pianists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, but also a completely new social phenomenon: a sort of nationwide celebration of Chopin's music".
The centenary prompted a number of accompanying events that transformed Warsaw into a city-wide celebration of the composer. Initiatives included "music lover zones" (strefy melomana) where audiences could watch live broadcasts; over 30 establishments creating special Chopin-themed menus, desserts, and cocktails; a multimedia laser show set to Chopin's music at the Polish Army Stadium; jazz concerts at Chopin's birthplace in Żelazowa Wola; and a new film, Chopin, a Sonata in Paris, which premiered at the Gdynia Film Festival. Numerous exhibitions were held across the city, including an immersive experience titled "Romantic Chopin", outdoor displays of archival photographs, and a temporary exhibition at the Fryderyk Chopin Museum organized in collaboration with the Musée de la Vie romantique in Paris. Further plans for the 2027 anniversary include a festival in Warsaw featuring past prize-winners, concerts around the world, and a Global Chopin Gala of interconnected concerts spanning time zones from Tokyo to Vancouver.
Russian participants The 2025 competition was the first held since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Organizers announced that Russian pianists would be admitted only as "individual neutral pianists", a policy the Chopin Institute compared to that for athletes at the Paris Olympics. Participants from Russia were also required to sign a statement condemning the violation of international law. Two pianists, Philipp Lynov and Andrey Zenin, were admitted under these conditions.
Poster competition An international competition organized by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute and the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw selected the poster design for promoting the competition. Fifteen artists submitted a total of 30 entries. The jury, consisting of , Prot Jarnuszkiewicz, Mieczysław Wasilewski, and Artur Szklener, awarded the 40,000 złoty (US$) prize to Marcin Władyka. All submitted poster designs were exhibited from 1 to 31 October 2025 at the Academy's Czapski Palace.
Preliminary stage The preliminary stage was held from 23 April to 4 May 2025 in the Chamber Music Hall of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw. Participants were required to perform the following works:
Preliminary stage programOne of Étude Op. 10, No. 1 Étude Op. 10, No. 4 Étude Op. 10, No. 5 Étude Op. 10, No. 8 Étude Op. 10, No. 12 Étude Op. 25, No. 11One of Étude Op. 10, No. 2 Étude Op. 10, No. 7 Étude Op. 10, No. 10 Étude Op. 10, No. 11 Étude Op. 25, No. 4 Étude Op. 25, No. 5 Étude Op. 25, No. 6 Étude Op. 25, No. 10One of Nocturnes, Op. 9, No. 3 Nocturnes, Op. 27, No. 1 or 2 Nocturnes, Op. 37, No. 2 Nocturnes, Op. 48, No. 1 or 2 Nocturnes, Op. 55, No. 2 Nocturnes, Op. 62, No. 1 or 2 Étude Op. 10, No. 3 Étude Op. 10, No. 6 Étude Op. 25, No. 7One of Scherzo No. 1, Op. 20 Scherzo No. 2, Op. 31 Scherzo No. 3, Op. 39 Scherzo No. 4, Op. 54One of Mazurkas, Op. 24, No. 4 Mazurkas, Op. 30, No. 3 or 4 Mazurkas, Op. 33, No. 4 Mazurkas, Op. 41, No. 1 or 4 Mazurkas, Op. 50, No. 1 or 3 Mazurkas, Op. 56, No. 1 or 3 Mazurkas, Op. 59, No. 1 or 3
Ultimately, 642 pianists applied to the competition. Of these, 162 contestants from 28 countries were selected to perform in the preliminary stage, with the jury admitting 66 to the main stage. They were joined by an additional 19 pianists who qualified directly to the main stage by winning major piano competitions. Szklener commented on the exceptionally high and even artistic level of the participants in the preliminary round, stating that the jury found it difficult to make selections from what he described as an "exceptional generation of young artists" from around the world.
+ CompetitorCountryResultMasaharu KambaraMasaya KameiUladzislau KhandohiDavid KhrikuliTo Stage IHayoung KimJeonghwan KimJiin KimJunhyung KimSunah KimSakurako KitaElizaveta KliucherevaIndividual neutral pianistAntoni KłeczekTo Stage IPavle KrstićShushi KyomasuTo Stage IAriya LaothitipongGichang LeeKwanwook LeeTo Stage IBowen LiLuwangzi LiTo Stage ITianyou LiTo Stage IXiaoxuan LiTo Stage IXinjie LiZhexiang LiTo Stage IJuhee LimHao-Wei LinTo Stage IYanan LiuZiyu LiuJiaqing LuoZheng LuoTianyao LyuTo Stage IZhiqian LyuJulia ŁozowskaTiankun MaTo Stage IMegumi MaekawaAnastasiya MagamedovaIskandarkhon MamadalievXuanyi MaoTo Stage IGregory MartinRuben MicieliTo Stage INathalia MilsteinTo Stage IMaria MoliszewskaYumeka NakagawaTo Stage IYulia NakashimaTo Stage IFanze YangTo Stage IJuan Mas ChoclánYuya NishimotoTo Stage IAnna OjiroVincent OngTo Stage IArisa OnodaTo Stage IWenyuan PanChaelin ParkJinhyung ParkYehuda ProkopowiczTo Stage ITommaso BoggianYangyue QinHao RaoTo Stage IIngrid Rodrigues UemuraZuzanna SejbukTo Stage IEfe SenHanwen ShiKotaro ShigemoriJun ShimadaTo Stage IHyojin ShinTo Stage IMana ShojiTo Stage IVitaly StarikovTo Stage I (Withdrew)Gabriele StrataTo Stage IEva StrejcováTo Stage ISzu-Yu SuFansum Kenny SunHaolun SunYutong SunQianlin TanNachuan TaoZiye TaoTo Stage IHao TianShunshun TieMateusz TomicaJulian TrevelyanVojtěch TrubačEric GuoTo Stage IYubo DengTo Stage IKiron Atom TellianRikako TsujimotoChun Lam UTo Stage ILiya WangQuanlin WangRyan WangTo Stage IYuhang WangZitong WangTo Stage IJan WidlarzTo Stage IKwan Chai WongIndividual neutral pianistSze Yuen WongVictoria WongTo Stage IMaiqi WuTo Stage IYifan WuTo Stage IZihao WuLingfei (Stephan) XieKongyan XinMiki YamagataTo Stage IRyota YamazakiTo Stage IViệt Trung NguyễnTo Stage IJiwon YangYuanfan YangTo Stage IJialin YaoAdria YeZiRui YeYoonji YeoSung Ho YooJeong Hyun YoonBartłomiej KokotYichen YuTo Stage IYuewen YuTo Stage IAndrey ZeninIndividual neutral pianistTo Stage IJacky Xiaoyu ZhangTo Stage IJunzhe ZhangNathaniel ZhangZhiqiao ZhangYuxuan ZhaoYonghuan ZhongTo Stage IHanyuan ZhuTo Stage IShio OkuiHarmony ZhuJingting ZhuTo Stage IVladimir AćimovićYuki AmakoYanyan BaoTo Stage IMichał BasistaTo Stage INicolas BourdoncleSimon BürkiMichelle CandottiZhiqian CenJunho ChaKai-Min ChangTo Stage IXuehong ChenTo Stage IHyo LeeTo Stage IYanjun ChenYiyang ChenZixi ChenTo Stage IHoi Leong CheongTo Stage IMariam ChitanavaHyena ChoRaphaël CollardDiana CooperTo Stage IAthena DengTo Stage IPeida DuYuAng FanTo Stage IZhongjin FangYang GaoYang (Jack) GaoTo Stage IInho GiShuguang GongTo Stage IYiming GuoWei-Ting HsiehTo Stage IXiaoyu HuTo Stage IHasan IgnatovTo Stage IIbrahim IgnatovRiko ImaiHina InazumiSeika IshidaAsaki IwaiHyun-Gyu JiZihan JinTo Stage I
An additional 19 pianists qualified to the main stage directly by winning major piano competitions: + CompetitorCountryAdmission through 2020 Polish Fryderyk Chopin National Piano Competition 2024 Hamamatsu International Piano CompetitionKevin Chen 2023 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master CompetitionMateusz Dubiel 2025 Polish Fryderyk Chopin National Piano CompetitionAlberto Ferro 2015 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition 2020 Polish Fryderyk Chopin National Piano CompetitionKaito Kobayashi 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition 2022 International Paderewski Piano Competition 2021 Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition 2019 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition 2016 International Paderewski Piano Competition 2022 International Paderewski Piano CompetitionEric Lu 2018 Leeds International Piano CompetitionPhilipp LynovIndividual neutral pianist 2019 International Paderewski Piano CompetitionPiotr Pawlak 2020 Polish Fryderyk Chopin National Piano CompetitionAnthony Ratinov 2025 National Chopin Piano Competition of the USA 2023 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano CompetitionTomoharu Ushida 2018 Hamamatsu International Piano Competition 2015 Polish Fryderyk Chopin National Piano Competition 2025 Polish Fryderyk Chopin National Piano CompetitionWilliam Yang 2025 National Chopin Piano Competition of the USA
Main stage The main competition from 3 to 20 October consisted of three stages and a final. An inaugural concert was held on 2 October, and the prize-winners' concerts took place from 21 to 23 October.
Calendar (CEST) 2 Oct 3 Oct 4 Oct 5 Oct 6 Oct 7 Oct 8 Oct 9 Oct 10 Oct 11 Oct 12 Oct 13 Oct 14 Oct 15 Oct 16 Oct 17 Oct 18 Oct 19 Oct 20 Oct 21 Oct 22 Oct 23 Oct Inaugural concert 20:00 Stage I 10:00 (morning session)17:00 (evening session) Stage II 10:00 (morning session)17:00 (evening session) Stage III 10:00 (morning session)17:00 (evening session) Final 18:00 Prize-winners' concerts 19:00