19th Chopin Competition – Opening Concert Filharmonia Narodowa

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19th Chopin Competition – Opening Concert

2.10
Thursday / 20:00
Concert Hall
Guest Concert, Symphonic Concert, Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition
Performers:
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra
Andrzej Boreyko
conductor
Dang Thai Son
piano
Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu
piano
Yulianna Avdeeva
piano
Garrick Ohlsson
piano
Fryderyk Chopin
Polonaise in A Major, Op. 40 No. 1 (orch. Grzegorz Fitelberg) [4']
Camille Saint-Saëns
Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major 'Egyptian', Op. 103 [29']
Francis Poulenc
Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D minor
Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto for 4 harpsichords in A Minor, BWV 1065 (performed on 4 pianos)
19th Chopin Competition – Opening Concert

organiser: Fryderyk Chopin Institute

From 2 to 23 October 2025, the Warsaw Philharmonic will host one of the world's most important piano competitions – the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, which in 2025 is held for the nineteenth time .

The three-stage competition auditions will begin on 3 October, and the day before, on 2 October, the official opening of the Competition will take place. The symphony concert will be conducted by Andrzej Boreyko, and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra will accompany the outstanding pianists, winners of previous editions of the Competition. Bruce Liu, Yulianna Avdeeva, Garrick Ohlsson and Dang Thai Son will perform together as soloists in Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto for Four Harpsichords (performed on four pianos) by Johann Sebastian Bach. The programme will also include Francis Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos, Camille Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 5 and Fryderyk Chopin's Polonaise in A major, Op. 40 No. 1 (in a orchestral version).

The Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Andrzej Boreyko will accompany the Competition Finalists on 18, 19 and 20 October and during the prize-winners' concerts on 21, 22 and 23 October.


All information about the auditions – the schedule and auditions – can be found here: chopincompetition.pl

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Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu

piano

He shot to global attention in 2021, winning the 18th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. That success brought a new stage in the young artist’s career – a time of intense concert work around the world, including at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, BOZAR in Brussels, City Opera in Tokyo, São Paulo Hall and Vienna Musikverein, with such ensembles as the Wiener Symphoniker, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra of Tokyo and Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Before the Chopin Competition, he had already performed with the Cleveland Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and NCPA Orchestra of China (on a North American tour). His forthcoming plans include concerts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a US tour with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, a European tour with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and appearances as numerous festivals: La Roque d’Anthéron, Rheingau, ‘Chopin and his Europe’, Riga Jurmala, Duszniki, and Martha Argerich’s festival at the Teatro Cólon in Buenos Aires. Immediately after the Chopin Competition, Deutsche Grammophon, in collaboration with the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, released Liu’s first disc, featuring a selection of his competition recordings, which was Gramophone magazine’s ‘Critics’ Choice’ and ‘Editor’s Choice’. A month later, the Chopin Institute released his other competition recordings, including the concerto finale. The two albums together fully document his triumphant path to victory in the world’s most important piano competition.

‘What we all have in common is our difference’, as this young pianist states. Born in Paris into a Chinese family, he was brought up in Montreal. From a very young age, his multi-cultural environment shaped his personality, character and worldview. Full of openness and optimism, in his artistic work he draws inspiration from the finest sources of the cultural heritage of Europe, China and North America. He studied with Richard Raymond, and is currently a pupil of Dang Thai Son, who prepared him for the Chopin Competition.

 

[2022]