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Students, Faculty + Alumni

Charles Richard-Hamelin wins silver in Chopin Competition

Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin won silver at the prestigious 17th International Frederic Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland. He also won the prize for the best performance of a sonata.

First place went to Seong-Jin Cho of South Korea; American Kate Liu took third.

This year's competition featured over 75 young pianists from 20 different countries. During the three weeks of the competition, the pianists played only Chopin's works before a 17-member international jury.

In its 88-year history, the Chopin competition has gained a reputation as one of the world's top piano events, opening international careers to young pianists.

Charles Richard-Hamelin, who won the 2011 Prix d'Europe, recently won the second prize at the Montreal International Musical Competition and came in third for the best performance of a Beethoven sonata at the Seoul International Music Competition in South Korea.

As a soloist, he has performed with symphony orchestras in Montreal and Toronto and at major festivals in Canada.

Richard-Hamelin, who released a CD featuring works by Chopin in September, studied at McGill University in Montreal and in 2013 earned a master's degree from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Boris Berman.

Richard-Hamelin performing at the Chopin Competition