Cooper International Competition for Piano Announces 2025 Candidates

This year’s piano edition has selected 21 candidates to compete from July 20–24, 2025

The Thomas and Evon Cooper International Competition annually alternates editions for young pianists and violinists aged 13 to 18.

This year's edition for piano will be held at the Oberlin Conservatory and the Severance Music Center, with finals performed with the Cleveland Orchestra. 

The 2025 Cooper Competition piano candidates are:

• Anna Avramidou, 17 Nicosia | Cyprus 
• Eunha Basu, 15 Bedford, MA | U.S.A. 
• Anwen Deng, 16 Brisbane | Australia 
• David Gatien, 16 Bellevue, WA | U.S.A. 
• Xuanyan Gong, 18 Shanghai | China 
• Hanbei Han, 15 Beijing | China 
• Sawako Harada, 18 Tokyo | Japan 
• Minwoo Hong, 17 Seoul | Korea 
• Ryan Huang, 14 Ontario | Canada 
• Qinyaoyao Ji, 15 Nantong City | China 
• Brian Lin, 18 Fremont, CA | U.S.A. 
• Chongrui Luo, 17 Guizhou | China 
• Andrew Petrescu, 16 Frisco, TX | U.S.A. 
• Jacob Rockower, 17 Palo Alto, CA | U.S.A. 
• Yixin Shen, 14 Shanghai | China 
• Saya Uejima, 16 Uniontown, OH | U.S.A. 
• JingXing Wang, 16 Shanghai | China 
• Yangting Wang, 13 Dalian City | China 
• Zikang Wang, 17 Shandong | China 
• Kai-Lang Yang, 17 New Taipei City | Taiwan 
• Zhongkai Zhang, 16 Beijing | China

First prize is valued at $20,000; second prize is $10,000; and third prize is $5,000. The fourth, fifth, and sixth prize winners will be awarded $1,500 each, and the recipient of the Audience Prize will win $500. 

Additionally, the top three finalists will be awarded full four-year tuition scholarships to Oberlin Conservatory, if granted a successful application. 

The 2025 piano jury will comprise Robert Shannon, Angela Cheng, Alvin Chow, André Gremillet, Douglas Humpherys, Aljoša Jurinić, Yong Hi Moon, and Haewon Song.