American Eric Lu crowned winner of Chopin Piano Competition

WARSAW (Reuters) -American pianist Eric Lu won the top prize at the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw on Tuesday. The decision came after hours of deliberations by a 17-person international jury, chaired by American pianist Garrick Ohlsson. The winner of the 19th edition of the competition receives a 60,000 euro ($69,972) prize and a gold medal funded by the President of Poland. "I'm so grateful for this honour. I'm grateful for all the Chopin lovers around the world who watched online and all the audience here in Warsaw. I'm grateful for the jury to bestow me this honour. This is a dream come true," a visibly overwhelmed Lu told reporters in the early hours of Tuesday. In the final, he performed Chopin's Polonaise-Fantasy in A-flat major, Op. 61, and Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 21. "We worked very hard, and we had a number of very difficult discussions involving our opinions about artistic matters," jury chair Ohlsson said ahead of announcing the winner. "I think we have a fine decision for this year's competition." Lu, 27, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute. He won the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2018 and has performed with the Boston, London and Chicago symphony orchestras, among others. He has released two albums on the Warner Classics label, recording works by Schubert, Chopin, Schumann and Brahms, according to the Chopin Competition's website. The second prize went to Canada's Kevin Chen, while China's Zitong Wang came in third. This year's competition included 84 participants, all born between 1995 and 2009. The majority hailed from China, Poland, and Japan. Eleven contestants reached the finals. The nearly 100-year-old event was inspired by the Olympic Games. Named after the famed Polish composer Frederic Chopin, it is held every five years in Warsaw around October 17, the anniversary of Chopin's death. ($1 = 0.8575 euros) (Reporting by Barbara Erling, Chris Thomas; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Sonali Paul)

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