Hilton Head International Piano Competition

10/29/2026

CHAEYOUNG PARK, HHIPC DOUBLE PRIZE WINNER, IN SOUTH DAKOTA CONCERT
Chaeyoung Park, HHIPC 2019 1st Prize winner and 2013 2nd Prize winner, will present a solo recital at South Dakota State University at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center. The concert is presented as part of SDSU’s University Chamber Music Series.

The performance will include music by Bach, Ravel, Bartók and Rachmaninoff, offering audiences an opportunity to experience some of the most celebrated works written for the piano. In recognition of the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death, Park is also set to deliver a powerful performance of Beethoven’s celebrated Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, nicknamed the “Appassionata.”

Having earned three degrees from the Juilliard School, Park has earned international acclaim through a series of significant competition successes. She was the winner of the 2022 Young Concert Artists Susan Wadsworth International Auditions and a semifinalist in the 2025 Van Cliburn competition. Her concert appearances have taken her to major venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and leading music festivals throughout the United States and abroad.

Presented by the South Dakota State University School of Performing Arts, the recital is part of the school’s ongoing commitment to bringing internationally recognized artists to Brookings. No ticketing or admittance fee is required.

Contact South Dakota State University’s School of Performing Arts at 605-688-5187 for more information.

10/29/2026

JUEON LEE, 2026 HHIPC 1ST PRIZE WINNER, HIGHLIGHTED BY HYUNDAI FOUNDATION
The next generation of pianists supported by the Hyundai Motor Chung Mong-Koo Foundation has achieved a string of successes at major international music competitions. Among them is 2026 HHIPC 1st Prize Winner Jueon Lee.

Fifteen-year-old pianist Jueon Lee has won prizes at a succession of major youth and international piano competitions held in the United States this year. After taking first place at the Hilton Head International Piano Competition in March, Lee won the junior division of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition in June. At the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists in July, Lee placed second in the junior division and received a special prize for a performance of a 20th-century work.

Selected as a foundation scholarship recipient in 2024, Jueon Lee won first place at the Osaka International Music Competition last year and also performed at the International Steinway Festival in Hamburg, Germany. Lee is also set to advance to the final round of the Isang Yun International Music Competition, which will be held in November.

In addition to scholarships, the foundation supports scholarship recipients as they develop into professional artists by providing opportunities for overseas study, participation in international competitions and performances, as well as mentoring. Its focus is on long-term development of skills and international stage experience rather than short-term competition results.

10/28/2026

CHARLIE ALBRIGHT, 2007 HHIPC 3RD PRIZE WINNER AND BravoPIANO! FAVORITE, IN MINNESOTA CONCERT
Join the Friends of the Auditorium and the City of Worthington in celebrating the 120th birthday and the 30th Anniversary of the renovation of its beautiful 1906 Steinway Grand Piano.

On Sunday November 15th at 2:00 p.m., Charlie Albright will join the celebration in a special recital. The concert will take place at the Memorial Auditorium Performing Arts Center, 714 13th St., Worthington, MN. Doors open at 1:00 p.m. Admission is free. There will be a freewill donation towards the continued maintenance of the 1906 Steinway Grand Piano

American pianist/composer/improviser Charlie Albright i a recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant, Gilmore Young Artist Award, and the Ruhr Klavier Festival Young Artist Award presented by Marc-André Hamelin (Germany) and winner of 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 his three-part, live, all-Schubert recordings were 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, he crosses genres...and makes it fun.

Albright regularly performs in programs with artists from all genres, including vocalist/conductor Bobby McFerrin, violinist Joshua Bell, pianist Emanuel Ax, conductor Gum Nanse, and Broadway vocalists Mandy Gonzalez, Scarlett Strallen, and Hugh Panaro. He has performed five times with revered cellist Yo-Yo Ma: at the honorary degree ceremony at Harvard University for Senator Ted Kennedy; at a 10th anniversary remembrance of 9/11; at the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison; at the Aspen Institute’s Citizen Artistry conference in New York; and with the Silk Road Project.

Albright appears regularly worldwide with such orchestras as the San Francisco, Seattle, Boston Pops, Philly Pops, BBC Concert Orchestra, Seongnam Philharmonic (Korea), Bergen (Norway), Victoria (Canada), and NCPA (China) Symphonies; and at venues including the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Grieg Hall (Norway), and the mainstage of Carnegie Hall.

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 and maintain a new nine-foot Steinway piano for the college’s Corbet Hall.

Albright graduated as the first classical pianist in the Harvard/NEC Joint Program and received his Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School, having studied with Nancy Adsit, Wha-Kyung Byun, and Yoheved Kaplinsky. Albright is an official Steinway Artist.

10/27/2026

TIME IS RUNNING OUT! LIMITED TICKETS REMAIN! GET YOURS NOW BEFORE WE SELL OUT!

CHANGYONG SHIN RETURNS TO HILTON HEAD OCTOBER 30!
Changyong Shin, 2016 HHIPC 1st Prize Winner, returns October 30 to perform in a remarkable recital of classical favorites. The first in this season’s BravoPiano! Recital Series will be in the intimate surroundings of SoundWaves, 7 Lagoon Road, at 7:30 p.m. This event will surely be a sell-out so get your tickets now: https://hhso.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket/ #/instances/a0FPb00000VqDovMAF

B**r, W**e and Soft Drinks will be available for purchase. A reception with Savories and Sweets will follow.

Passionate, inspired performances and brilliant technique are the hallmark of pianist CHANGYONG SHIN, First Prize Winner of the Gina Bachauer International Artist Competition, Seoul International Music Competition, and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. In 2022, he won the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

In 2021, Changyong captivated audiences with a sold-out recital at Lotte Concert Hall, followed by a sold-out recital tour and multiple performances as part of Lotte Concert Hall’s highly selective “In-House Artist Series.” He also completed a Fantasie recital tour in several cities, including Utah, Boston, New York, Seoul, Ulsan, and Gwangju, in 2023. He has also given numerous solo performances throughout Asia, North America and Europe, including recitals at Carnegie Zankel and Weill Recital Hall, WQXR-FM’s Midday Masterpieces Series, Steinway Hall Artist Series, Marlboro Music Festival, Newport Music Festival, Italy’s Barletta Piano Festival, Klavier- Festival Ruhr (Ruhr Piano Festival) in Essen, Germany, Kumho Cultural Foundation’s Artist series and Rising Star series at Kumho Art Hall, Paris’s Salle Cortot Hall, Lotte Concert Hall in Korea, Concert Hall at Seoul Arts Center, IBK Chamber Hall in Korea, Evelyn Miller Young Pianists Series, Green Lake Festival of Music, Rose Wagner Center in Utah, Salt Lake City, Coastal Carolina University Guest Artist Series.

He has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras, including Filharmonie Brno, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Utah Symphony, Hilton Head Symphony, Oakland Symphony, Chattanooga Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, Korean National Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra, Korean Chamber Orchestra, Daegu Philharmonic Orchestra, Sendai Philharmonic Orchestra, and others.
Mr. Shin is also a recording artist, whose debut CD was listed as one of the “Best New Recordings of 2018” by WQXR. His second album of Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt, released on Steinway & Sons Label, received rave reviews from ClassicToday. His latest album “Gaspard de la Nuit,” released on Stomp Music label in Korea, received high praise from Pizzicato.

An accomplished chamber musician, Mr. Shin has given chamber music recitals across the United States and in Seoul, Korea and Paris, France. He has appeared in recital in such renowned venues as Seoul Arts Center, Kumho Art Hall in Seoul, Daegu Concert House, Louvre Museum in Paris, New York City’s The Greene Space, Philadelphia’s Holy Trinity Church, and Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center in California among others.

Since 2024, he has dedicated himself as the host of Matinee Concert Series at Arts Center Incheon, curating a dynamic lineup of performances that include both solo showcases and chamber music collaborations with fellow musicians, culminating in four memorable concerts.

A native of South Korea, Changyong won first prize in the Young Artist Award of the National Academy of Arts, Republic of Korea, in 2022. He has pursued his musical education in the United States since 2011, earning a Bachelor’s degree from the Curtis Institute of Music and both a Master’s degree and an Artist Diploma from The Juilliard School under the tutelage of Robert McDonald. After completing an Artist Diploma under the guidance of Wha Kyung Byun at the New England Conservatory, he now resides in Boston, MA, and serves on the faculty of the New England Conservatory Preparatory School.

10/27/2026

INNA FALIKS, 1998 HHIPC 1ST PRIZE WINNER, IN NEW ALBUM RELEASE
Long-time friends and each with a distinct musical profile, pianists Inna Faliks and Daniel Schlosberg have played four-hand and two-piano repertoire by Schubert, Rachmaninoff, Pärt, and Mahler, at the Ravinia Festival, Los Angeles County Museum of Art and National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, among many others. The duo now presents Alexander Zemlinsky’s transcription of Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 for piano four-hands, a work they have performed to acclaim across the country. “Preparing, performing and recording this earth shattering, larger-than-life canvas of a work requires absolute comfort and trust, on a human and musical level,” says Faliks. “The many years we have spent pondering this magnum opus transcription have created some of my most treasured musical memories,” adds Scholsberg. The Washington Post hailed their Mahler 6 as “a herculean performance…brimming with character.”

10/26/2026

OLGA KERN, 2022 HHIPC JUDGE, DAZZLES IN RETURN TO HILTON HEAD ISLAND

10/23/2026

JONATHAN MAMORA, 2025 HHIPC 1ST PRIZE WINNER, RECEIVES RAVE REVIEW FOR DAME MYRA HESS RECITAL IN CHICAGO

Pianist Jonathan Mamora is an Indonesian-American and native of Southern California who has studied at Juilliard and the Eastman School of Music. He has competed in numerous international piano competitions

10/23/2026

CARTER JOHNSON, 2016 HHIPC ALUM, IN CARNEGIE HALL DEBUT
Dublin International Piano Competition presents its 2025 First Prize winner, pianist Carter Johnson, in his Weill Recital Hall debut at Carnegie Hall on November 4 at 7:30 p.m. Johnson was also a finalist in the 2025 Van Cliburn Competition and a prizewinner in several other international competitions. His program interweaves Schumann’s gracious Arabeske and luminous “Ghost Variations” with works by Schnittke and Bartók, ultimately culminating in Schumann’s Davidsbündlertänze, a work that explores every corner of the human emotional experience. For tickets: https://www.carnegiehall.org/Cart/Event-Seating?itemNumber=54619 #/

Celebrated for his warm stage presence, compelling musical personality, and cutting-edge programming, Canadian pianist Carter Johnson is known for making classical music speak to all kinds of audiences. With playing described as “sincere, communicative, and intelligent”, “drop-dead gorgeous”, and even “the greatest thing since sliced bread” (Gramophone), Johnson’s competition laurels include being a finalist in the 2025 Van Cliburn Competition and the winner of the 2025 Dublin Competition—the first Canadian to achieve either honour—as well as being the silver laureate in both the 2025 Honens and 2024 Gina Bachauer Competitions. He is a recipient of the CAG Louis and Susan Meisel Prize.

Highlights of Johnson's 2026-2027 season include recital appearances at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall, Spivey Hall, Merkin Hall, and Wheaton College, a return engagement with the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, and debuts with the Omaha Symphony and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He makes his TSO debut alongside Angela Hewitt in Mozart's Double Concerto. He has previously appeared with orchestras including the Polish National Radio Symphony, RTÉ National Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Utah Symphony, Fort Worth Symphony, Poznań Philharmonic, and Victoria Symphony Orchestras, as well as Orchestre Métropolitain and the Orchestra of the Americas. He has also appeared at festivals including the OSM Virée classique, Festival of the Sound, Ottawa Chamberfest, Miami International Piano Festival, Trasimeno Music Festival, and Festival les Piano Folies du Touquet-Paris-Plage.

Trained in elocution, Johnson holds an ATCL with distinction in speech and drama from Trinity College London, and frequently incorporates this skill into his recitals through spoken commentary. His performances of Poulenc’s L’histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant, in which he appears as both pianist and narrator, are beloved by audiences of all ages and backgrounds. Alongside the standard concert repertoire, he maintains a strong interest in experimental and interdisciplinary programming; the 2026-2027 season includes his debuts in live improvisation and solo harpsichord.

Born on Vancouver Island, Johnson began piano studies at age five with Shelley Roberts, whom he considers one of his most important influences. He later worked with Michelle Mares before completing a Bachelor of Music at the University of British Columbia with Mark Anderson. He earned a Master of Music at the Juilliard School under Joseph Kalichstein and Matti Raekallio, and a Master of Musical Arts at the Yale School of Music with Wei-Yi Yang, where he is currently a Doctor of Musical Arts candidate. He also maintains a close artistic relationship with Angela Hewitt, who has been a significant mentor and chamber music partner since first hearing him perform Bach in Leipzig.

Johnson resides in Connecticut with his wife Hannah and their three children. Outside of music, he and Hannah enjoy cooking, gardening, and spending time outdoors as a family.

10/22/2026

A little piano humor.

10/21/2026

CHARLIE ALBRIGHT, 2007 HHIPC 3RD PRIZE WINNER AND BravoPIANO! FAVORITE, IN TACOMA CONCERT
Charlie Albright joins conductor Sunny Xia and Symphony Tacoma at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, February 21, 2027, for “Beethoven Unbound.” The concert will take place at the Pantages Theater, 901 Broadway, Tacoma WA. For tickets: https://symphonytacoma.org/

Program
Beethoven: “Emperor” Concerto No. 5
Beethoven: Symphony No. 3

Symphony Tacoma was founded in 1946 by 30 volunteer musicians from the University of Puget Sound. It became a professional orchestra in 1993 under Harvey Felder, now conductor laureate, and today brings together more than 80 orchestral musicians and Symphony Tacoma Voices, a volunteer chorus of 70. The orchestra has called the historic Pantages Theater home for more than 30 years.

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 regularly appears at major concert halls, festivals, and with artists of all genres worldwide. In 2019, he was the guest artist at the Isaac Stern Auditorium main stage of Carnegie Hall with the American Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Leon Botstein, and made his return appearances at the 2019 Bergen International Festival in Norway, where he performed a sold-out solo recital and was given the honor of performing the festival’s traditional yearly concert of the Grieg Piano Concerto at Grieg Concert Hall with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

Albright regularly performs in programs featuring artists from all genres, including vocalist/conductor Bobby McFerrin, violinist Joshua Bell, pianist Emanuel Ax, conductor Gum Nanse, Vocalists Harry Connick Jr., Marc Martel, and Branford Marsalis, and Broadway vocalists Mandy Gonzalez, Scarlett Strallen, and Hugh Panaro. He has performed five times with revered cellist Yo-Yo Ma: at the honorary degree ceremony at Harvard University for Senator Ted Kennedy; at a 10th anniversary remembrance of 9/11; at the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison; at the Aspen Institute’s Citizen Artistry conference in New York; and with the Silk Road Project.

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. For the latest information, please visit CharlieAlbright.com and Youtube.com/CharlieAlbrightPianist.