Young artists from China and Republic of Korea advance to the piano final of the Prague Spring International Music Competition 2026
Of the ten participants in the second round of the piano category of the Prague Spring International Music Competition, Xuehong Chen and Zhiquan Wang from China and Sehyeok Son from the Republic of Korea have advanced to the final round, which will take place on Thursday 14 May from 18.00 CET at the Rudolfinum.
In the final round, audiences will hear the following three piano concertos performed with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and conductor Petr Altrichter: Johannes Brahms’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in D minor Op. 15, Frédéric Chopin’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in E minor Op. 11, and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 in D minor Op. 30. The already completely sold-out final round will be streamed live online on the YouTube channel of the Prague Spring International Music Festival, @PragueSpringFestival. For the first time in the competition’s history, the stream will also be carried by the website of the British magazine Gramophone.
Honourable Mentions were awarded to Ziye Tao from China and Junho Cha from the Republic of Korea. The Czech Music Fund Foundation Prize for the best performance of a work composed for the Prague Spring IMC 2025 – Afro pour piano by Kryštof Mařatka – was awarded to Ziye Tao and Zhiquan Wang from China.
The final of the Prague Spring Competition 2026 piano category will take place on Thursday 14 May from 18.00 in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum. The results are expected at around 23.00 CET. The winner will be decided by a jury comprising Daniel Browell (United Kingdom) – Chairman of the Jury, Joonas Ahonen (Finland), Dina Yoffe (Latvia, Germany), Leonel Morales (Spain), Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń (Poland), Martin Kasík (Czech Republic) and Ivo Kahánek (Czech Republic).
Partners of the competition are the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the City of Prague and the ČEZ Foundation.
