Young Asian pianists take home top prizes as Chopin competition concludes in Warsaw

Chinese-born pianist Fou Ts'ong (1934-2020) won the third prize in 1955, and Chinese-Canadian Bruce Xiaoyu Liu claimed victory in the 2021 competition.

This year's event marked Wang's second challenge in the Chopin competition. Her performance of two etudes in the first round of the 2021 event impressed many listeners on Chinese social media.

Wang was born in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region in 1999. She started learning piano at age three and attended the primary and secondary schools affiliated with the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, studying under the conservatory's piano professors Chang Hua and Sheng Yuan.

In 2012 she was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music in the United States, where she studied under pianists Meng-Chieh Liu and Eleanor Sokoloff, while learning harpsichord with Leon Schelhase as a minor. She also took philosophy courses at the University of Pennsylvania.

The young pianist is currently pursuing a master's degree at the New England Conservatory of Music under the guidance of Dang.

Sheng, who taught Wang during her middle school years in Beijing, and kept in contact with her during the competition, noted that Wang's repertoire selection demonstrated a thoughtful balance of popular and lesser-known pieces by Chopin, blending long and short compositions, major and minor keys, and a variety of emotional landscapes.

He was particularly impressed by Wang's second-round program, which included a diverse range of forms — a nocturne, ecossaises, a ballade, preludes and a mazurka, to name a few — creating a compelling and recital-like experience.

In an interview with Polish media after the second round, Wang explained her programing concept: she opened with Nocturne in F major, Op 15 No 1, and closed with Mazurka in F minor, Op 68 No 4, one of Chopin's latest published works.

Rather than opting for the usual practice of a brilliant finale, she curated pieces she loved dearly and intended to form a narrative in which the audience could "breathe with her".

"We began with something pure, simple and innocent, something to look forward to," she said. "Then we experienced life with fun, with love and heartbreaks in the ballade, the excitement of young love in the Andante Spianato And Grande Polonaise Brillante in E-Flat Major, Op 22, and then we got to the Preludes, Op 28, from No 19 to 24, and finished with the mazurka."

"It's very emotionally hard for me to play this program, because I sort of putting in the three biggest works," Wang said. "We have a curve but that's the curve that you have to work for."

Sheng said Wang enjoys music and life and is imaginative with an artistic temperament. Her music is touching, introspective and expresses her perspective on life. She plays an extensive repertoire, covering works by various composers and different styles.

Wang's agent Zheng Jian has received a stream of concert invitations since the announcement of the prize. Zheng first noticed Wang during the previous Chopin competition and began collaborating with her soon after.

He expressed gratitude to those who recognized Wang's talent and supported her during the less visible years of her career — a journey that, like for many young artists pursuing an uncertain future, can be mentally taxing and lonely.

fangaiqing@chinadaily.com.cn