Winners of the 19th Chopin Competition at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław

Today – Saturday, October 25th – a concert by Kevin Chen, second prize winner of the 19th Chopin Competition, will take place at the National Forum of Music in Wrocław at 6:00 p.m. His performance of Chopin’s Concerto in E minor, Op. 11, will be preceded by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy’s Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, known as the ‘Scottish.’ Mendelssohn began writing his Symphony – inspired by a trip to Scotland – between 1829 and 1831 (ultimately, after abandoning it for a decade, he completed the work in 1841), at the same time as Chopin was composing his two piano concertos. The NFM Orchestra will perform the Symphony and accompany the soloist in the Concerto in E minor, under the baton of Anna Sułkowska-Migoń. 

A day later, on Sunday, October 26th, the winner of the Competition, Eric Lu, will perform a Chopin recital in the same hall of the NFM. The evening’s program will include the Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1, the Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60, the Polonaise in B-flat major, Op. 71, No. 2, the Mazurkas, Op. 56, and the Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35. Lu comes to Wrocław straight from Katowice, where he played Chopin’s Concerto in F minor with the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antoni Wit; on the same evening, David Khrikuli, a finalist of the 19th Competition, who enjoyed great acclaim from many critics and listeners, gave a recital at the NOSPR headquarter.

On Friday, October 31st, the Forum invited Piotr Alexewicz to perform a recital. This Wrocław native, educated there at the Academy of Music, won fifth place in the 19th Chopin Competition and numerous additional prizes, funded for the highest-scoring Pole in this edition; he is also the winner of the Audience Award.