France’s Concours International de Piano d'Epinal Names 2025 Winners

The Japanese pianist Yuya Nishimoto has won first place with a €10,000 cash prize

Founded in 1970 by Madame Suzanne Chevalier, the Epinal International Piano Competition is held every other year and is open to international pianists aged 16 to 30. 

Pianist Yuya Nishimoto of Japan was awarded the First Grand Prize with €10,000 and the Contemporary Music Prize, and Aidan Mikdad from Holland won second place with €4,000 and the French Music Prize. 

Third place with €2,000 and the JMF Prize for the best French contestant went to Mathis Cathignol, while fourth place with €1,000 went to the Spanish pianist Eugenia Sanchez Duran, who was also awarded the Audience Prize. The Chopin Etude Prize went to Daniils from Latvia. 

The laureates will also have opportunities to perform concerts with organizations including the Concerts Classiques d’Epinal, Rencontres Internationales de Musique de Mirecourt, Musique Espérance Saint-Dié, and more. 

Alongside Mickevics, the semi-finalists included Gyutae Ha (South Korea), Harrison Herman (Australia), Linda Lee (South Korea), and Piotr Pawlak (Poland). 

Chaired by Akiko Ebi, the 2025 jury comprised Hervé Billaut, Isabelle Dubuis, Konrad Elser, Sunghoon Hwang, Alvaro Teixeira Lopes, and Dina Yoffe. The preselection jury included Olivier Moulin (committee president), Konrad Elser, and Sunghoon Hwang.