And the winner is…
We’re delighted to announce that the overall winner of the 17th Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition is Curtis Phill Hsu. He won the coveted Sophia Guo First Prize with a scintillating performance of Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor Op.23, convincing the international jury, chaired by Professor Vanessa Latarche, that he was the fitting overall winner of the competition.
The complete list of prizewinners is as follows:
First Prize to Curtis-Phill Hsu
The Sophia Guo Award: £15,000, donated by Dayu Guo & Ling Jin, plus The Hastings Fellowship, an artist development and professional coaching package supported by Arts Council England that gives opportunities to start and sustain professional careers in the creative industries.
Professional engagements including concerts in Hastings and London with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
Second Prize (£7,000) to Harmony Zhu
Third Prize (£3,000) to Chengyao Zhou
Fourth Prize (£1,500) to Derek Wang
Fifth Prize (£1,000) to Hyelim Kim
The Sussex Prize (£2,500) to Curtis Phill Hsu
Awarded for the best performance in the semi-finals
The Orchestra Prize (£500)to Harmony Zhu
Awarded by members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
The Hastings Prize (£500)to Chengyao Zhou
Awarded for the best performance of the new commission by Lera Auerbach
The Festival d’Auvers-sur-Oise Prize to Harmony Zhu and Curtis Phill Hsu
An engagement at the 2025 Festival, awarded by Juror Pascal Escande to the finalist/s of his choice
Many congratulations to all 5 prizewinners.