Canadian Wins Ferenc Liszt International Piano Contest

Kevin Chen of Canada won the Grand Prize of the Liszt Ferenc International Piano Competition, followed by Giovanni Bertolazzi of Italy and Gergely Kovács of Hungary.

The official competition program of the long-established Ferenc Liszt International Piano Competition at the Liszt Academy of Music came to an end with the final on Saturday. Of the 72 applicants from all over the world, 22 performed live in front of a live audience.

After the first and second rounds and the semi-finals from September 13, four of the contestants reached the final, where two performed Liszt's Piano Concerto in A major and two the Piano Concerto in E flat major, accompanied by the National Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gergely Vajda.

A prestigious international jury of world stars selected 16-year-old Canadian Kevin Chen as the best, and the young man, who studied at the University of Calgary and has won several previous competitions, took the EUR 30,000 prize.

In addition to substantial cash prizes, the finalists were invited to over fifty concerts with national and international orchestras and concert halls.

The music competition was organized jointly by the Philharmonia Hungary and the Liszt Academy of Music, as part of the Budapest International Music Competitions, and was held at the Liszt Academy, founded in 1875.