Chopin Competition is swamped

More than 500 pianists have applied to be considered for the Chopin Competition in Warsaw this October.

About 190 are from Japan, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Some 35 are from South Korea. That’s almost half the entrants from one distinct geographic region.

The competition is overwhelmed by this record influx and will struggle to make fair choices in selecting 80 for the final round.

The judges will include Dang Thai Son (Vietnam/Canada), Sa Chen (China) and Akiko Ebi (Japan/France).

The last Chopin Competition in 2015 was won by Seong-Jin Cho of South Korea in a fair and transparent contest. The coompetition was one of the first to publish all judges’ marks.