Tonight, 4 March, we officially closed the 1st Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition.

At the award ceremony the audience was greeted by the general and artistic director of Ljubljana Festival and honorary member of the European Festivals Association Darko Brlek. The special prizes and prizes up to the 2nd place were presented by the artistic director of the competition Epifanio Comis and jury president Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak. The special prize for the performance of Fryderyk Chopin by HE Ambassador of Republic of Poland to Slovenia Krzysztof Olendzki and representative of the Chopin competition Warsaw Aleksander Laskowski.

The winner, who convinced the 9 member jury with his technical knowledge and interpretive skills, is Kai-Min Chang. Under the baton of conductor and pianist Ricardo Castro, accompanied by the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, he performed Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 by Sergei Rachmaninov.

The winners of the 1st Ljubljana Festival International Piano Competition are:

1st Prize / the City of Ljubljana Prize: Kai-Min Chang

2nd Prize / Ljubljana Festival Prize: Yuanfan Yang

3rd Prize: Uladzislau Khandohi

4th Prize: Yangrui Cai

5th Prize: Roman Lopatynskyi

6th prize: Kostandin Tashko

The winner recieved a top prize of €30,000 and the opportunity to perform at the 72nd Ljubljana Festival and  Emilia Romagna Festival 2024. He will also perform in a recital with the 1st Prize winner of 2023 Elmar Oliveira International Violin Competition in Ljubljana, Cremona and Florida in the Summer of 2024.

The following special diplomas were also awarded to the best performances:

Best performance of a Baroque work: Ilya Shmukler

Best performance of a Classical Sonata: Yuanfan Yang

Best performance of a Romantic work: Yuanfan Yang

Best performance of a 20th Century work: Uladzislau Khandohi

Best performance of a 21st Century work: Jonathan Mak

Best performance of a work by a Slovenian composer:  Urban Stanič

The highest ranked pianist representing Slovenia: Urban Stanič

Best performance of a work by Fryderyk Chopin: Yuanfan Yang

We would like to congratulate all the competitors and wish them every success in their future careers. We are extremely pleased to be able to help them with this recognition on their way to becoming world-class musicians. We would also like to thank the preliminary jury and the competition jury, headed by the renowned pianist and Professor Emeritus Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak, for their professional and correct work.