The winner of the piano category of the 77th Prague Spring International Music Competition is the eighteen-year-old Sehyeok Son from the Republic of Korea. Second and third places were awarded to Zhiquan Wang and Xuehong Chen from China. “I feel very refreshed. And what will I remember most? The charming personality of the conductor. I had always thought conductors were intimidating and very strict. But he proved to me that this is not the case,” said the winner Sehyeok Son, who performed Johannes Brahms’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in the final round, accompanied by the Prague Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Petr Altrichter.
“Brahms’s First Piano Concerto is fantastic; it is almost like chamber music. It requires a very delicate balance between the piano and the orchestra, and I think Sehyeok Son managed that brilliantly,” said Chairman of the Jury Daniel Browell in praise of the winner.
Second Prize winner Zhiqan Wang played Frédéric Chopin's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in E minor Op. 11 where Xuehong Chen performed Sergei Rachmaninoff's 3rd Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in D minor Op. 30.
