2026 Competitors
Meet the pianists: D-J
Alexander Doronin, 23
RUSSIA
Alexander Doronin studied at the Royal College of Music in London and graduated with a First-Class Honours Bachelor degree and is currently pursuing a Master of Music degree under Professor Dmitri Alexeev as Musicians' Company Lambert Scholar. Alexander has been awarded numerous prizes at international piano competitions, including recently the First Prize at the Hong Kong International Piano Competition. He has performed extensively across the UK and internationally, both as a soloist and with orchestra.
Shangru Du, 28
CHINA
Shangru Du has appeared at venues including the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, Beijing Central Conservatory Concert Hall and Shenzhen Concert Hall. Shangru won first prizes in the Yamaha Music Scholarship Piano Competition, the International Keyboard Odyssiad® Festival Competition (2022) and the Rubato International Piano Competition (2022). Shangru earned his bachelor’s degree at Oberlin Conservatory under Matti Raekallio and Stanislav Ioudenitch, and his master’s degree at The Juilliard School under Matti Raekallio and Jerome Lowenthal. Shangru is now pursuing his Doctorate at the Eastman School of Music with Douglas Humpherys.
Roman Fediurko, 21
UKRAINE
Roman Fediurko studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz (Austria) under Professor Milana Chernyavska. Roman was awarded first prize in competitions, including the Bösendorfer USASU International Piano Competition in Tempe, Arizona (USA), International Robert Schumann Piano Competition in Düsseldorf and a gold medal at the Vladimir Horowitz International Piano Competition in Geneva. He has performed in venues such as Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Konzerthaus and Musikverein Vienna and the Kunsthaus Zurich.
Christos Fountos, 28
CYPRUS
This competitor has now withdrawn from the competition.
Rowel Friers, 23
IRELAND
Rowel Friers began piano tuition aged five and gave his first public recital that same year. Rowel made his New York Debut in Carnegie Hall in 2017. He has won many competitions and was awarded the Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year 2023. Rowel studied for his Bachelor of Music Performance degree at the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin, with Professor Réamonn Keary.
Simon Haje, 20
GERMANY
Simon Haje began as a pre-college student at the Berlin University of the Arts at age nine and is currently studying with Professor Claudio Martinez-Mehner at HfMT Köln. He has won numerous first prizes, including Steinway Hamburg, Schumann Düsseldorf, Enschede, Aarhus, and in 2025 the Orchestra Prize at the Concours Clara Haskil. He has appeared in leading venues such as Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonie Berlin, and Konzerthaus Vienna, most recently performing with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under Christoph Eschenbach.
Khadizha Israpil, 26
RUSSIA
Khadizha Israpil studied at the Central Music School of the Moscow State Conservatory with Professor Andrei Limaev. She continued her studies at the Moscow Conservatory under Professor Natalia Trull, graduating in 2022. Khadizha has entered many international competitions achieving First Prize at the Spanish Composers International Piano Competition. She has played with the Mariinsky Orchestra under the baton of Zaurbek Gugkaev and performed in major venues across Russia.
