Prizewinners Announced at the NTD Piano Competition

German pianist Robert Neumann won First Prize

The seventh edition of the NTD International Piano Competition was held from October 14 to 19 in New York City's Kaufman Music Center. The competition hosted pianists from Europe, Asia, and America, with ten players advancing to the semi-finals and five selected for the finals.

The German pianist Robert Neumann was named as the overall winner (Gold Medal recipient), and he also won the prize for the best performance of the commissioned work Holy Grace, by the Chinese composer Qin Yuan.

The Silver Award went to Shih-Yeh Lu (Taiwan), while Tang Hsing Lien (Taiwan) received the Bronze Award. Pianists Jean-Luc Therrien (Canada) and Ching-Yi Lin (Taiwan) received Outstanding Performance Awards, and Honorable Mention Awards went to the other semifinalists: Karen Yoshida (Canada), Takeshi Shimozato (Japan), Yun-Hsuan Shannon Chiang (Taiwan), Boris Krivoshein (Russia), and Wei Wu (Taiwan).

Born in 2001, Robert Neumann studied with Monika Giurgiuman, Elza Kolodin, and Eldar Nebolsin. He made his debut with the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra when he was just eight years old, and a number of other distinctions have followed. In 2017, he received the International Classic Music Discovery Award

Neumann has appeared in the Tonhalle Zürich, Herkulessal München, Bregenz Festival Hall, Salle Cortot Paris, Konzerthaus Dortmund, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Victoria Concert Hall Singapore, the Moscow International Performing Arts Center and Lincoln Center NY.

As chamber musician, he has collaborated with players such as Daniel Müller-Schott, Julia Fischer, Sebastian Manz, Maximilian Hornung, Olli Mustonen, and the Quartetto di Cremona.

In 2024, the NTD competition jury comprised Becky Yao (chair), Janara Khassenova, and Brenda Chen.