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Uladzislau Khandohi was born in Minsk, Belarus, to a family of musicians—dulcimer players. When his parents noticed him picking out melodies on the piano at the age of 7, they took him to music school, where he progressed quickly; he won his first grand prix (at the Mendzelevskaya Open City Competition for young pianists in Mogilev) at age 10, and the first prize of the Sviridov Competition for Young Performers in St. Petersburg a year later.

After Vitaly Starikov completed his studies at the Ural Special Music School in his native Yekaterinburg, his “dream came true” when he began studying with Vera Gornostayeva, one of the world’s most venerated teachers, at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. At that time, her student, Vadym Kholodenko, had just won the 2013 Cliburn Competition, which “greatly inspired” Vitaly: “and it was then that the thought was born to someday participate in this competition.”

Born in Qinhuangdao, Xiaolu Zang was 4 years old when an electric keyboard caught his attention. He eventually attended the Beijing Central Music Conservatory Middle School for seven years under Professor Ye Lin and won first prizes in several major Chinese competitions. It was during that time, at the age of 15, that he recalls a singular day when he determined himself to become a professional musician. That commitment took him to Germany in 2017, where he studies with Arie Vardi at Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover.

Yangrui Cai began his piano studies at age 4, though none of his family had any music- or art-related background. When he was 15, a first-place finish in the national auditions earned him a spot in China’s Xinghai Conservatory of Music Middle School. Upon his graduation with distinction in July 2019, the Hunan native was admitted to several prestigious conservatories in the United States with full scholarships. He is currently a third-year undergraduate student at Oberlin Conservatory, under the tutelage of 2001 Cliburn Gold Medalist Stanislav Ioudenitch.

Tokyo-born Yuki Yoshimi did not decide to pursue music professionally; he first “met the piano” at a friend’s house when he was 5 years old and has “loved the piano since then.” A graduate of the Toho Gakuen School of Music, where he worked with Hisako Ueno and Kei Itoh, his studies eventually brought him to the United States; he has attended the New England Conservatory of Music under Alexander Korsantia since 2020.

Yutong Sun, a native of Tianjin, China, is currently studying with Alexander Korsantia and Dang Thai Son at the New England Conservatory. He has gained international recognition by winning prizes at prestigious competitions, including placing in three in Spain: Santander (second), Canals (third), and Jaén (first). He returns to Fort Worth this year after competing in the 2017 Cliburn Competition.

When he was a child, Ziyu Liu’s parents discovered that he could memorize melodies of songs and play them, without any instruction, on their electric keyboard. They bought him a piano, and he started learning on his own. At the age of 11, he decided that he wanted to become a professional pianist because of the joy he got from communicating with others through music.

2022 Competition Rounds and Repertoire

2022 Competition Schedule

2022 Competition Jury