Before the Spotlight: Finalists Remember Their First Chopin

We were thrilled to stream the finals of the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition this week and as usual, the level of musicianship and technical prowess the young pianists displayed blew us away! They are all among the best interpreters of Chopin’s music in the world right now—a skill that has taken years to hone and perfect. We asked them to dive deep into their childhood memories to think about their first encounter with this iconic repertoire…

Zitong Wang (3rd Prize)

My first Chopin was the very first Nocturne, op. 1. I learned that piece when I was studying in China — I was maybe 7 or 8 years old.

Honestly, I don’t think I really knew what I was doing; I just liked the melody, and I used to play it a lot. I remember loving to play nocturnes. That’s why I also included several nocturnes in this competition’s program. I think I have some kind of connection with this genre.

William Yang (6th Prize)

Honestly, I don’t remember. It was probably one of the smaller waltzes—most likely the one in G-flat major.

David Khrikuli (Finalist)

The Nocturne in C minor. I was 9 years old.

Miyu Shindo (Finalist)

I can’t name exactly which one, but I remember the genre—it was either a polonaise or a mazurka.

I enjoyed playing Chopin’s dance music when I was a child, but of course, I discovered much more about it later. Now I play completely differently, but I still really love those rhythmic, very joyful dance pieces by him.

Piotr Alexewicz (5th Prize ex aequo) 

It was a prelude : the Prelude in E minor, op. 28 no. 4. At that time, I must have been 6 or 7 years old, maybe even younger.

Kevin Chen (2nd Prize) 

I’m not sure. Maybe a nocturne or something like that.

I was thinking about this a while ago, actually. I remember that, for me, it didn’t make sense that one person could have written all those legendary works. When I found out that it was an actual person who had written them, I was sincerely amazed.

Shiori Kuwahara (4th Prize ex aequo) 

I forgot the number, but the last waltz was my first Chopin piece to perform. Before that, I had practiced Busoni, Bach, and Mozart. It was almost my first Romantic piece, and I remember finding it so beautiful and emotional… I was really happy to practice it.

And, if you play the piano, you know: throughout all piano study, Chopin is always there.

For me, performing Chopin feels like a dream—so of course, I was very happy at that time. I was maybe 8 years old.

Years later, performing Chopin in Poland is a great joy for me—and maybe not only for me, but for all pianists. The competition was such a beautiful moment in my life. I hope I’ll be coming back here in the future as well.

Watch the most powerful moments of the 2025 edition of the International Chopin Piano Competition on medici.tv.