The First Prize of the 76th Concours de Genève, which took place last night (3 November) at Victoria Hall,
Geneva was awarded to Canadian pianist Kevin Chen
● Sergey Belyavsky (28 years old, Russia) ) won Second Prize. The Third Prize was awarded jointly to
Kaoruko Igarashi (27 years old, Japan) and Zijian Wei (23 years old, China)
● “The talent of the candidates was exceptional. Really, the level was so high!” Janina Fialkowska (Canada,
President)
● For the final phase of the Piano Competition Final, the candidates were required to perform a Romantic or
Modern Concerto from a list of Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Saint-Saëns,
Ravel, Bartók, Prokofiev
● The finalists performed at Victoria Hall on 3 November with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
conducted by Maržena Diakun
● The Final was broadcast live on Espace 2 and live streamed on the Concours de Genève website and social
media, as well as on medici.tv and amadeus.tv
● Since its creation in 1939, the Geneva Competition has been dedicated to the mission of discovering,
promoting and supporting the best young artists of the moment by favouring complete artists and creators
of emotion
● The complete list of Prizes can be found below with biographies of the Laureates on page 2
Final of Piano
● 1st Prize : CHF 20,000.- Kevin Chen
● 2nd Prize : CHF 12,000.- Sergey Belyavsky
● 3rd Prize : CHF 8,000.- Kaoruko Igarashi, Zijian Wei
● Audience Prize : CHF 1,500 .- Sergey Belyavsky
● Young audience Prize : CHF 1,000.- Kevin Chen
● Student prize : CHF 1,000.- Sergey Belyavsky
● Rose-Marie Huguenin Prize : international concert tour
● Etrillard Foundation Prize: CHF 5,000.- Kevin Chen
● Jussy Concerts Prize : CHF 3,000.- and a concert – Kevin Chen
● Paderewski Prize: CHF 3,000.- and two concerts (in Switzerland and Poland) – Sergey Belyavsky
● Société des Arts : CHF 3,000.- AND A CONCERT – Kevin Chen
● PrizeSteinway Prizewinner Concerts : One or more concerts within the network of Steinway Prizewinner
Concerts, for one or two piano laureates.
● Georges Leibenson Prize : CHF 3,000.- Vsevolod Zavidov
● Paul Streit Prize : CHF 3,000.- Adria Ye

In addition to the official prizes, the Geneva Competition offers a Support Program for Laureates, offering them support and
essential advice to get started their career. The program includes two years of management by the Sartory Artists agency, as well as recordings, international tours and a professional training workshop.

Biographies of the winners
KEVIN CHEN : Kevin Chen lives and studies in Calgary, Canada, where he is taught by Marilyn Engle. Despite his young age, he has
already made a name for himself in many famous international competitions and notably won the 1st First Prize at the Liszt
Competition in Budapest, the 1st Prize at the Mozart Competition in Lugano (junior section) and the 1st Prize at the Washington
Hilton Head Competition. He has already performed with the Calgary, Edmonton and Minneapolis symphony orchestras among
others. Kevin Chen is also an assiduous composer, with nearly 100 works to his credit, including symphonies and a piano concerto.
In 2013, he wrote the River Rhapsody in tribute to the victims of the High River floods.
SERGEY BELYAVSKY : Sergey Belyavsky lives in Kansas City in the United States, where he is a student of Stanislav Ioudenitch at
Park University. He previously studied with Elisso Vissaladze in Moscow, Arie Vardi in Tel Aviv, Lev Natochenny at Kalaidos
University in Zurich and Marian Ribykci in Paris. Since his debut at the age of 12, he has performed on the most prestigious stages
in Russia, Europe and America, both in recital or as a soloist with orchestra. He has taken part in numerous international
competitions and won notable awards including the 2nd Prize of the Franz Liszt Competition in Budapest, the 2nd Prize of the
Canals Competition in Barcelona, the 3rd Prize of the Gina Bachauer Competition in Salt Lake City and several special prizes from
the Paderewski Competition of Bydgoszcz in Poland. He has already recorded three CDs, the last of which is devoted to Chopin’s
24 Studies.
KAORUKO IGARASHI : Kaoruko Igarashi graduated from the prestigious Tōhō Gakuen Music School in Tokyo, where she studied
with Genichiro Murakami, Yukio Yokoyama and Michiko Okamoto. She has successfully participated in numerous competitions in
Japan: 1st Prize at the Tōhō Gakuen Concerto Competition, 4th Prize at the Chopin Competition in Japan, Special Accompaniment
Prize at the National Competition of Japan. She performed at a concert in the Imperial Gardens and conducted a performance in
honor of the Queen of Belgium during her visit to Japan. She has already played as a soloist with the best orchestras in Japan: the
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the National Orchestra of Japan.
ZIJIAN WEI : Zijian Wei studied at the Beijing Central Conservatory with Wei Danwen. Previously, he was a student of Galina
Popova at the Xinghai Conservatory. He distinguished himself at numerous competitions in China, where he won prestigious
prizes: 1st Prize at the Huanglong Competition, 2nd Prize at the Grand Canal Festival-Lang-Lang Competition, 1st Prize at the
Hong Kong Chamber Music Competition. . He was invited to the “Musical Chairs” Festival in Montreal and performed at the Gala
concert. Zijian Wei plays regularly as a chamber musician and accompanist for festivals and concert seasons and as a soloist with
orchestras such as the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sichuan Conservatory
Orchestra.

Members of the 2022 jury
Janina FIALKOWSKA, Canada, president / Florent BOFFARD, France / Josu DE SOLAUN, Spain-USA / Till FELLNER, Austria /
Momo KODAMA, Japan / Marianna SHIRINYAN, Armenia / Gilles VONSATTEL, Switzerland-USA