Yang Liu, a 23-year-old pianist from Fuzhou, China, has won first prize in the second Toronto International Piano Competition, whose final round was held on November 1 at Toronto’s Koerner Hall. Her award includes a cash prize of US$15,000 and solo and orchestral engagements with the Toronto Concert Orchestra and in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Piano Extravaganza Festival held in February 2015, which is curated by Emanuel Ax and presented in partnership with Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. Second prize of $8,000 went to Rodolfo Leone (Italy, age 23), and third prize of $5,000 went to Rachel Kudo (U.S./Japan, age 27). In Sunday’s final round, each of the three performed concertos with the Toronto Concert Orchestra, led by Kerry Stratton. The three remaining semifinalists—HyeJin Kim (South Korea, fourth place), Wenting Shi (China, fifth place), and TaekGi Lee (South Korea, sixth place)—each receive $1,000.
Posted November 11, 2014
