The qualifying rounds for the currently ongoing 19th Chopin Competition confirmed the growing popularity of Chopin's music worldwide. The fact that pianists who have won awards in other prestigious competitions entered the competition underscores the reputation of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition as the most important global event of its kind.
The International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition is one of the most prestigious events in the world of classical music. The 19th edition, scheduled for 2025, attracted a record number of candidates – 642 applications were received, a 100% increase compared to the 2010 edition, when 327 pianists expressed interest in participating in the qualifying rounds. In subsequent years, the increase was as follows: 2015 – 452, 2020 – 500. The qualifying rounds, held from April 23 to May 4, 2025, in the Chamber Hall of the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, were a key stage of the selection process, traditionally preceding the main auditions scheduled for October.
The jury for the qualifying round included ten distinguished pianists and teachers, including Ludmil Angelov, Alberto Nosè, Nikolai Demidenko, Piotr Paleczny, Krzysztof Jabłoński, Ewa Pobłocka, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, Kevin Kenner, Marc Laforêt, and Wojciech Świtała. Their experience, including numerous awards in previous editions of the competition, guaranteed a deep understanding of the specifics of the competition, insightful evaluation, and the ability to recognize unique talent.
Helene Tysman at the Chopin Competition in 2010 (Source: DlaPolonii.pl)
The jury was chaired by Professor Piotr Paleczny. His success in the 8th Chopin Competition opened the doors to many prestigious concert halls around the world. His award, along with Garrick Ohlsson (First Prize) and Mitsuko Uchida (Second Prize), Third Prize, the Special Prize for the best performance of a polonaise, and the Witold Małcużyński Prize, launched his international career.
"We're looking not just for a pianist, but for a true artist who feels Chopin, loves Chopin. And, beyond all this, possesses a creative artistic personality. We're looking for such pianists"—these words by Paleczny capture the essence of the judging process, in which the jurors considered not only technique but also depth of interpretation and originality. The effort was enormous—without a day's break, for almost two weeks, the jury members listened to a total of over 66 hours of music.
The qualifying rounds attracted participants from many countries, underscoring the global nature of the event. According to the regulations, the 19th Chopin Competition was open to professional pianists born between 1995 and 2009. Based on the submitted applications (with mandatory video recordings), 171 pianists from China (67), Japan (24), South Korea (23), Poland (8), the USA (6), Chinese Taipei (5), Canada (4), Italy (4), France (4), the UK (3), Bulgaria (3), Germany (2), the Czech Republic (2), and Georgia (2) were invited to perform live. Countries such as Austria, Belarus, Brazil, Spain, Israel, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Serbia, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam were represented individually. Ultimately, 162 pianists participated in the auditions held in Warsaw at the turn of April and May. This group also included 13 people who, thanks to winning awards listed in the piano competition rules, qualified for the elimination round without the video recording evaluation stage.
Each pianist had a choice of a Steinway or Yamaha instrument. The young pianists presented a Chopin repertoire consisting of two etudes, a nocturne (or one of the lyrical etudes: E major, Op. 10, No. 3, E flat minor, Op. 10, No. 6, C sharp minor, Op. 25, No. 7), a scherzo, and a mazurka. Such a diverse program provided an opportunity to showcase both virtuosity and interpretive sensitivity. Interestingly, of the four statutory scherzos, the most frequently performed one is one that does not often appear in regular Chopin recital programs – Scherzo in E major, Op. 54 (51 times). For the remaining works in this genre, the distribution of performances during the qualifying rounds was as follows: B flat minor, Op. 31 (47), C sharp minor, Op. 39 (42), B minor, Op. 20 (22). The regulations allowed any order of pieces in the program, only two non-lyrical etudes had to be performed one after the other.
The qualifying rounds were broadcast online on the event website (chopincompetition.pl) and on the official YouTube channel of the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, allowing music lovers from around the world to follow the performances live. The high level of interest in this stage of the competition is evidenced by the fact that the videos available on the institute's channel on VOD have already received over 4 million views.
Eighty-five pianists from 20 countries qualified for the first stage of the competition, with the largest groups representing China (29), Japan (13), and Poland (13). The remaining groups include artists from South Korea (4), the USA (4), Canada (5), Italy (3), France (2), Chinese Taipei (3), and the UK (3), with one representative each from Spain, Portugal, Germany, Vietnam, Malaysia, Georgia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Israel. According to the regulations, the group of those qualified for the competition without participating in the eliminations included 19 laureates of the most important piano competitions in the world (in Leeds, Tel Aviv, Miami, Bolzano, Hamamatsu, Paderewski in Bydgoszcz, National Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw): Piotr Alexewicz (Poland), Jonas Aumiller (Germany), Kevin Chen (Canada), Mateusz Dubiel (Poland), Alberto Ferro (Italy), Adam Kałduński (Poland), Kaito Kobayashi (Japan), Mateusz Krzyżowski (Poland), Shiori Kuwahara (Japan), Hyuk Lee (South Korea), Pedro López Salas (Spain), Eric Lu (USA), Philipp Lynov (under a neutral flag), Piotr Pawlak (Poland), Anthony Ratinov (USA), Tomoharu Ushida (Japan), Andrzej Wierciński (Poland), Krzysztof Wierciński (Poland), William Yang (USA).
The competition schedule includes: the opening concert on October 2nd, Stage I (October 3rd–7th with 85 pianists), Stage II (October 9th–12th, approximately 40 pianists), Stage III (October 14th–16th, approximately 20 pianists), the final (October 18th–20th, approximately 10 pianists), and three laureates' concerts (October 21st–23rd). As usual, a concert will also be held at the Basilica of the Holy Cross on October 17th, the anniversary of Fryderyk Chopin's death.
The qualifying rounds for the 19th Chopin Piano Competition confirmed the growing popularity of Chopin's music worldwide. The fact that pianists who had won awards in other prestigious competitions entered underscores the reputation of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition as the most important event of its kind in the world; the qualifying rounds alone captivate audiences from thousands around the world. The high turnout, which filled most of the Chamber Hall of the National Philharmonic during each audition session, demonstrates that Chopin music enthusiasts treat this phase as a fully-fledged stage of the competition, one that, thanks to the high standard of the interpretations presented, provides a wealth of emotion and artistic experience.
