Hilton Head International Piano Competition

06/20/2026

CHARLIE WU, 2026 HHIPC 3RD PRIZE WINNER, AWARDED MOSCOW COMPETITION GRAND PRIX
The finals of the Fifth International Competition for Young Pianists – the Grand Piano Competition -were held June 18 in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow. The Grand Prix of the competition was awarded to Charlie Wu and Emir Zakaria. To hear Charlie’s performances:

Recital round: https://youtu.be/_I7EhPD2SKc

Concerto Round Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto 3 2nd and 3rd Movement: https://youtu.be/IexKteRkhBY

Winner Gala play Rachmaninoff Piano 3rd Movement: https://youtu.be/ad8fEzZ-R7s

“When I listen to a talented performance, I do not hide the fact that I and the highly respected members of the jury learn a lot from the participants,” says Denis Matsuev, artistic director of the competition. “How can they, at such a young age, to use cinematic language, deliver their best take, without any editing, when millions are watching and the Moscow public is listening? When I look at them, I realize that these are special children, outstanding pianists from completely different schools.

“Of course, there's a touch of sadness because the competition is over. But for them, it's just the beginning, and they know it perfectly well – they don't need reminders to go to practice tomorrow. Over the past 10 years, each of the Grand Pianists has represented their school on the world's best stages."

Melbourne-born Charlie Wu is a Year 7 student, and Concertmaster of the School Orchestra at Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia. He studies piano with Glenn Riddle at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. In 2024, Charlie made his concerto debut performing Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra in Moscow, conducted by Ivan Nikiforchin. Since then he has performed Haydn’s Piano Concerto in D with Les Solistes de Neuchâtel in Geneva, Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2 (Melbourne Sinfonia), Beethoven’s Triple Concerto (Cloud Concert Orchestra), Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 (Preston Symphony and Whitehorse Symphony Orchestras), and most recently, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Camerata Orchestra, winning First Prize in the Boroondara Open Concerto Competition. Internationally Charlie was awarded First Prize and Best Performance of a work by a Swiss composer in the Concours International Musicale de Genève in Switzerland and was a Diplomate in the Grand Piano International Piano Competition (Moscow). Locally he has been awarded the Musical Society of Victoria’s Nehama Patkin and Eda Schurmann Awards, and numerous First Prizes in various other competitions.

Charlie has presented solo recitals for the St. Paul’s Cathedral, Scots Church, St. Geroge’s Church, and the Diamond Creek Concert Series. In 2026 he will perform Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Maroondah Symphony Orchestra, Mozart’s Concerto K. 414 with the Mozart Festival Chamber Players and give a solo recital for Camberwell Music Society’s Subscription Concert series.

Charlie is a keen chamber musician, and enjoys playing tennis, swimming and chess.

Haydn. Sonata No. 41, Hob. XVI:41 0:50Tchaikovsky. Nocturne, Op. ...

06/19/2026

TWO 2026 HHIPC ALUMS ADVANCE TO FINALS OF BACHAUER COMPETITION
Congratulations to Jueon Lee, 2026 HHIPC 1st Prize Winner, and Junye Huang, 2026 Gorodnitzki Award Winner, for advancing to the finals of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition Junior Division. The finals will be held June 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W 300 South, Salt Lake City, UT. For tickets: https://www.saltlakecountyarts.org/events/gina-bachauer-junior-young-artists-competitions/

JUEON LEE started to play the piano at age seven. He studied at Yewon School, a prestigious arts middle school in South Korea, which he entered as an excellent scholarship student. His solo debut recital was in the Kumho Prodigy concerts at age 12.

Jueon has earned awards in many competitions. In 2025, he won First Prize at the Steinway Youth Piano Competition Southeast Asia-Pacific Regional Finals in Bangkok. He was invited to the Steinway Festival in Hamburg, Germany and performed in Laeiszhalle’s Grand Hall. In 2024, he won prizes at the Ettlingen International Piano Competition in Germany and the Ishikawa International Piano Competition in Japan. He won the Grand Prize at the Henle Piano Competition and First Prize at the Ewha-Kyunghyang Competition. Demonstrating his talent in chamber music, he won Grand Prize at the Music Journal Competition.

Jueon Lee has given many recitals and concerts in Korea including at the Seoul Arts Center and Lotte Concert Hall. In 2025, he had a solo recital at Shanghai Conservatory in China, at the invitation of the Shanghai International Piano Conference.

He has participated in master classes with Sir András Schiff, Nelson Goerner, Peter Jablonski and others. He has performed with both the Prime Philharmonic and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestras.

JUNYE HUANG is a young pianist recognized for his exceptional artistry, disciplined musicianship, and rapidly growing stage presence. He began piano studies at the age of nine with Professor Vivian Li, under whose guidance he developed a refined technical foundation and a distinctive musical voice. He is currently a ninth-grade piano major at the Affiliated Middle School of the Xinghai Conservatory of Music and is a participant in the school’s Top Innovative Talent cultivation program.

At only fourteen, Junye has already distinguished himself at major national and international competitions. In 2023, he won First Prize in Professional Group A at the National Finals of the 11th Steinway Youth Piano Competition. In 2024, he was an award recipient in both solo piano and chamber music at the 3rd Xinghai Steinway Scholarship Audition and went on to win First Prize in the school’s Yamaha Scholarship Competition. That same year, he earned First Prize in Group B of the 8th Israel Scherzo International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv.

In 2025, Junye was awarded a full scholarship to the exclusive Morningside Music Bridge program in Boston. Outside of music, he enjoys reading, listening to both classical and contemporary music, and playing badminton.

06/19/2026

CONGRATULATIONS TO ANTHONY RATINOV, 2022 HHIPC MEDALIST AND GORODNITZKI WINNER, ON SIGNING WITH AGENCE STATION BLEUE!
American pianist Anthony Ratinov has joined the roster of Agence Station Bleue for management. He will be managed by Annick-Patricia Carriere. Ratinov will join artists including Andrew Wan, Elinor Frey, Chloé Dumoulin, and Charles Richard-Hamelin.

"I'm deeply grateful for the opportunity to begin working with Annick-Patricia Carriere and the entire team," Ratinov shares in a social media post. "It is an honor to be joining such an inspiring group of artists, including musicians I have admired for many years and some dear mentors. I'm very excited for this next chapter and look forward to everything that's ahead."

"We are proud to support him in this exciting new chapter of his career," writes Agence Station Bleue. "Welcome, Anthony!"

Ratinov was the First Prize winner at the Ricard Viñes International Piano Competition, Second Prize winner at the 2025 National US Chopin Competition, the Busoni International Piano Competition, and the Olga Kern International Piano Competition, and the Third Prize winner at the 2024 Concours Musical International de Montréal. He is also a laureate of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw.

06/18/2026

MICHAEL DAVIDMAN, 2013 HHIPC ALUM, IN PURDUE CONCERT
Michael Davidman will perform at the Loeb Playhouse, 28 Memorial Mall, West Lafayette, IN, on February 13, 2027, at 8:00 p.m. as part of the Purdue Convocations concert series. For tickets: https://convocations.purdue.edu/tickets/

Michael Davidman is an internationally acclaimed pianist and the winner of the 2025 American Piano Awards Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship. Educated at elite institutions—including Curtis, Juilliard, the Manhattan School of Music, and the Reina Sofia Music School—he demonstrated exceptional talent from a young age.

Davidman has also claimed top prizes at prestigious events like the Long-Thibaud and Juilliard Gina Bachauer competitions. As a highly sought-after soloist, he has performed globally with renowned ensembles like the Philadelphia Orchestra at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall. Outside of his extensive piano career, he is a passionate opera enthusiast.

06/17/2026

CONGRATULATIONS TO STEVEN LIN, 2012 HHIPC 3RD PRIZE WINNER, FOR REALIZING A DREAM!

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1BQEQU7pTx/

06/17/2026

CHARLIE ALBRIGHT, 2007 HHIPC 3RD PRIZE WINNER AND BRAVOPIANO! FAVORITE, IN WASHINGTON RESIDENCY
Charlie Albright will be in residence at the Field Arts and Events Hall from October 5th through the 9th, ending in a concert on October 9 at 7:00 p.m. Field Hall is located at 201 W Front Street, Port Angele, WA. For tickets: https://fieldhallevents.org/tickets/

Internationally award-winning pianist, composer, and improviser Charlie Albright brings music to everyone, uniquely connecting with audiences like no other through his music, speaking, and making concerts fun.

Hailed as “among the most gifted musicians of his generation” with a “dazzling natural keyboard affinity” who “made quite an impression” by the Washington Post, American pianist/composer/improviser Charlie Albright has been praised for his “jaw-dropping technique and virtuosity meshed with a distinctive musicality” by The New York Times, and his “extravagance that had showmanship but never felt cheap” with his “ease and smoothness that refuses to airbrush the music, but animates it from within” by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant and Gilmore Young Artist Award, Albright won the Ruhr Klavier Festival Young Artist Award presented by Marc-André Hamelin (Germany) and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. In addition to performing, Albright is sought after as a speaker, masterclass instructor, teacher, and competition judge. His debut commercial recording, Vivace, has sold thousands of copies worldwide and the first two parts of a 3-part Schubert Series of live, all-Schubert recordings was released in 2017 and 2020. Charlie Albright breaks the "classical" rules of music by connecting with audiences like no other. Through his music, speaking, and unique improvisations that bring music to life, he crosses all genres...and makes it fun.

Albright’s compositions and improvisations have been likened to “the great Romantic-era composer-pianists” by Classical Source and have been praised as “thrilling” by the DC Metro Theatre Arts. The Philadelphia Inquirer raved that he “brought the art of classical-music improvisation to a new level.”

A firm believer in education, Albright founded the Charlie Albright Scholarship and Charlie Albright Piano in collaboration with the Centralia College Foundation in his hometown. The Scholarship provides financial aid to music students, and money was raised to purchase a new 9-foot Steinway Piano for the college’s Corbet Hall.
Winner of the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts and named one of the “15 Most Interesting Seniors,” Albright was also named Artist-in-Residence for Harvard University’s Leverett House, a position last filled by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Albright’s numerous awards include First Prize in both Solo and Ensemble categories at the 2006 New York National Piano Competition; First Prize and all other awards offered at the 2006 Eastman International Piano Competition; Third Prize at the 2007 Hilton Head International Piano Competition; Semi-Finalist Award and Best Performance of a Work by Liszt in Stage I at the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition; and the Vendome Virtuoso Prize and the Elizabeth Leonskaya Special Award at the 2009 Vendome Prize International Piano Competition.

Born in Centralia, Washington, Albright began piano lessons at the age of 3. He studied with Nancy Adsit and earned an Associate of Science degree at Centralia College while still in high school. He was the first classical pianist in the Harvard College/New England Conservatory 5-Year AB/MM Joint Program, completing a Bachelor’s Degree as an Economics major and Pre-Med student at Harvard, and a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance at NEC, having studied with Wha-Kyung Byun. He graduated with the prestigious Artist Diploma (A.D.) from The Juilliard School, having studied with Yoheved Kaplinsky. Albright is an official Steinway Artist.

06/16/2026

A little piano humor...

06/15/2026

CHELSEA WANG, 2011 HHIPC ALUMNA, JOINS HIMARI IN LA JOLLA CONCERT
Chelsea Wang, piano, accompanies Himari, violin, in concert at The Baker-Baum Concert Hall, 7600 Fay Ave L to, La Jolla, CA on May 2, 2027, at 3:00 p.m. in a La Jolla Music Society concert. For ticket information: https://transaction.theconrad.org/packages/fixed/452

A festival favorite and the youngest soloist ever to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic, this celebrated young violinist has been described as a “once-in-a-generation talent.” Himari has captivated the global classical music scene as a teen sensation, earning countless awards and prizes. Her thrilling Conrad debut is one classical music fans won’t soon forget—a program featuring the elegance of Ravel, the passionate intensity of Messiaen, and the romantic drama of Strauss.

The Program:
SCHUBERT: Violin Sonata in A Major, D.574 “Grand Duo”
GRIEG: Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in C Minor, Op. 45
MESSIAEN: Fantaisie for Violin and Piano
KREISLER: Viennese Rhapsodic Fantasietta
RAVEL: Tzigane, M.76

Chelsea Wang, praised by The New York Times as an “excellent young pianist,” is an award-winning soloist, chamber musician, and educator who has performed widely across North America, Europe, and Asia. Her appearances have taken her to leading venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Phillips Collection, Koerner Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin, the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Hall, Seoul Arts Center, Taipei National Concert Hall, the Weiwuying Center for the Arts, and Hong Kong City Hall. A prizewinner and finalist in numerous national and international competitions, she has been recognized with special awards at the Seoul International Piano Competition, the Washington International Piano Competition, and the New York International Piano Competition.

Ms. Wang made her orchestral debut at the age of six and has since performed with ensembles such as the Fort Worth Symphony, Des Moines Symphony, musicians from the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New Orleans Civic Symphony, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Symphony, and Northwestern University Chamber Orchestra, among others. She has appeared at major festivals including Music@Menlo, Ravinia Steans Institute, Bravo! Vail, Tippet Rise, Music Academy of the West, Orford, PianoTexas, Fontainebleau, Music from Angel Fire, Four Seasons, Banff, Amalfi Coast, and Norfolk Chamber Music Festival.

A dedicated chamber musician, Ms. Wang has performed as a guest artist with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Manhattan Chamber Players, Buffalo Chamber Music Society, Hong Kong Intimacy of Creativity, and the Samos Young Artist Festival. She has collaborated with leading artists such as David Shifrin, Ida Kavafian, Ani Kavafian, Anne-Marie McDermott, David Finckel, Roberto Díaz, Paul Neubauer, Peter Wiley, and Bright Sheng. Her performances have been broadcast on NPR’s From the Top, WQXR (New York), WFMT (Chicago), WHYY (Philadelphia), WSMR (Sarasota), and other regional stations, as well as on Rob Kapilow’s What Makes It Great. As a passionate and enthusiastic educator, Ms. Wang serves on the faculty of the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Institute’s Young Performers Program and has led numerous interactive performances in schools and community venues throughout New York City and across the United States. She is an alumna of Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect.

A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Ms. Wang began piano studies at age four with Chiu-Ling Lin and Ksenia Nosikova. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at the Curtis Institute of Music under the tutelage of Meng-Chieh Liu and Ignat Solzhenitsyn, where she received the Sergei Rachmaninoff Award upon graduation. She holds a Master of Music degree and Graduate Performance Diploma from the Peabody Conservatory, studying with Leon Fleisher and Yong-Hi Moon, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Northwestern University with James Giles. Ms. Wang is one of the newest members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Bowers Program (2027-2030) and resides in New York City.

06/13/2026

CONGRATULATIONS TO SPENCER MYER, 2003 HHIPC ALUM, ON HIS PROMOTION TO PROFESSOR AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY!
Spencer Myer was promoted to professor with tenure effective July 1, 2026, by the Indiana University Board of Trustees at the board meeting held June 12 on the IU Bloomington campus. Spencer is on the faculty at the Jacobs School of Music. He recently served on the March 2026 HHIPC Competition Jury.

Spencer Myer’s orchestral, recital and chamber music performances have been heard throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Africa and Asia. He has been soloist with, among many others, The Cleveland Orchestra, Boise, Dayton, Louisiana and Rhode Island philharmonic orchestras, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston, the Baton Rouge, Bozeman, Canton, Chattanooga, Flagstaff, Indianapolis, Juneau, Knoxville, New Haven, Phoenix, Santa Fe, Springfield (MA, MO, OH), Traverse, Tucson and Wyoming symphony orchestras, Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Ohio’s ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, New York City’s The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, Mexico’s Orquesta Filarmónica de Jalisco, South Africa’s Cape Town and Johannesburg philharmonic orchestras and Beijing’s China National Symphony Orchestra, collaborating with, among others, conductors David Bernard, Mélisse Brunet, Nicholas Cleobury, David Danzmayr, Robert Franz, Neal Gittleman, Bernhard Gueller, Jacques Lacombe, Jahja Ling, Dirk Meyer, Elliot Moore, Timothy Muffitt, Maurice Peress, Kyle Wiley Pickett, Kevin Rhodes, Lucas Richman, Matthew Savery, Alfred Savia, Klauspeter Seibel, Steven Smith, Gerald Steichen, Arjan Tien, Peter Stafford Wilson and Victor Yampolsky. His 2005 recital/orchestral tour of South Africa included a performance of the five piano concerti of Beethoven with the Chamber Orchestra of South Africa, followed by six return orchestra and recital tours.

Spencer Myer's recital appearances have been presented in New York City's Weill Recital Hall, 92nd Street Y and Steinway Hall, Philadelphia's Kimmel Center and London’s Wigmore Hall, while many of his performances have been broadcast on WQXR (New York City), WHYY (Philadelphia), WCLV (Cleveland) and WFMT (Chicago). An in-demand chamber musician, he has appeared multiple summers at the Lev Aronson Legacy Festival with cellists Lynn Harrell, Ralph Kirshbaum, Amit Peled, Tom Landschoot and Brian Thornton, and has enjoyed a recurring partnership for over a decade with the Miami String Quartet at the Kent/Blossom Music Festival. Other artistic partners include clarinetist David Shifrin, sopranos Nicole Cabell, Martha Guth and Erin Wall, the Jupiter and Pacifica string quartets and the Dorian Wind Quintet.

Spencer Myer's career was launched with three important prizes: First Prize in the 2004 UNISA International Piano Competition in South Africa, the 2006 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship from the American Pianists Association and the Gold Medal from the 2008 New Orleans International Piano Competition. He is also a laureate of the 2007 William Kapell, 2005 Cleveland and 2005 Busoni international piano competitions. He enjoys an esteemed reputation as a vocal collaborator since winning the 2000 Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition. Mr. Myer was a member of Astral Artists' performance roster from 2003-2010.

Since 2017, Spencer Myer has released six recordings on the Steinway & Sons label: Piano Rags of William Bolcom, “Chopin: The Four Impromptus”, and four discs with cellist Brian Thornton encompassing repertoire of Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, Schumann and Rachmaninoff.

Spencer Myer is a Steinway Artist.

06/12/2026