March 2023

We’ve had the pleasure and can’t express our endless gratitude, as rising star, Kevin Chen, performed at our local Canadian Music Competition fundraiser in 2023, March. Born in March 2005, Kevin Chen started his piano studies at age five. Since then, his successes in competitive performance have gained significant international appreciation, including first prize in the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv, Israel (March 2023); first prize in the Concours de Genève (November 2022); first prize in the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest, Hungary (September 2021); first prize in the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in Hilton Head, United States (March 2020); and first prize in the International Piano-e-Competition in Minneapolis, United States (July 2019).

Kevin has been performing with orchestras since his debut with the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra at the age of seven. These include the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian National Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Israel Camerata, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, and others.

Kevin currently studies privately with Professor Marilyn Engle. As a composer in his spare time, Kevin’s accomplishments in this regard are reflected in commissions and acclaimed public performances. Five of his works have been published. Outside of music, he enjoys computer programming and solving Rubik’s cubes.

You can see more information on Kevin, here

December, 2022

Rising star alert!

Meet Ethan Wang, piano — the brilliant winner of the Canadian Music Competition, joining the NSO for Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor.

At 10 years old, Ethan’s poise, passion, and virtuosity have wowed audiences across Canada. On November 14, he’ll bring his artistry to the Arts & Culture Centre stage in Masterworks 2: Echoes from the Isles. Tickets are on sale now, here.

Calgary's Kevin Chen earns 2nd at prestigious Chopin Piano Competition

Chen, 20, awarded silver medal while American Eric Lu takes gold!

Kevin Chen, a 20-year-old pianist from Calgary, has finished second at the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw while American Eric Lu went home with the gold.

Chen was one of 11 finalists who performed a concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic and conductor Andrey Boreyko in the competition's final round, held on Oct. 18, 19 and 20. Of the 84 total competitors at this year’s event, there were five Canadians, including Victoria Wong, Ryan Wang, Eric Guo and Athena Deng. 

The winner was chosen after several hours of deliberations by a 17-person international jury chaired by American pianist Garrick Ohlsson. First prize in the 98-year-old competition comes with a cash prize of 60,000 euros, or about $98,000 Cdn, and a gold medal from the president of Poland.

Chen will get a silver medal and 40,000 euros (about $65,000 Cdn) while China’s Zitong Wang, who came third in the contest, will go home with a bronze medal and 35,000 euros (about $57,000 Cdn).

"When it was down to just first and second [place] and there was a dramatic pause, I sort of knew [Kevin's] name was either going to be read for second or for first," said Janet Lopinski, president and artistic director of the Canadian Chopin Society, who watched Chen perform in Warsaw.

"And when they read his name out, of course we were very excited because he's still such a young man and he has so much ahead of him."

Debuted with Abbotsford Youth Orchestra

Chen started studying the piano when he was five years old, and made his orchestral debut two years later with the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra. In 2013, when Chen was just eight years old, he made it onto CBC Music’s annual list of 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30. 

• 30 hot classical musicians under 30, 2013 edition

“His sensitivity and musicality is beyond what I’m used to hearing,” said Calvin Dyck, director of the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra.

“There’s a tenderness and a beauty that just touches your heart,” he added.

In 2023, he won first prize ($51,000) in the Arthur Rubinstein Piano Master Competition in Tel Aviv; in 2022, he won first prize ($27,000) at the Geneva International Music Competition; and in 2021 he won first prize ($45,000) in the Franz Liszt International Piano Competition in Budapest.

The Calgarian is now based in Hanover, Germany.

To reach the competition’s final stage, Chen advanced through a preliminary round held in April and May (171 pianists took part), and then performed three successive solo recitals in October: Stage 1 (84 pianists), Stage 2 (40 pianists) and Stage 3 (20 pianists). 

He chose to perform Chopin's Piano Concerto in E Minor, Op. 11, for the final. 

For more information, click here.