The finalists have been announced for the 2018 Australian National Piano Award, with 14 pianists going on to compete for $68,000 in cash and prizes in Shepparton, Victoria, in September. The pianists were chosen, based on submitted recordings, by a judging panel consisting of New Zealand pianist Lance Coburn, now based in Ireland, British pianist Joanna McGregor and Australian pianist Gerard Willems, who will adjudicate recitals across two rounds, semi-finals and grand finals in September.

2018 Australian National Piano Award finalist Berta Brozgul

The 14 finalists who will compete in Shepparton for a first prize of $22,000 are Alexander Yau, Berta Brozgul, David Soo, Enrico-Sergio Mainas, Hank Xiang, James Guan, Jeremy So, Joshua Hooke, Oliver She, Rachel Shipard, Robbin Reza, Longjie (Roger) Cui, Timothy Chiang and Vatche Jambazian.

“The Australian National Piano Award was conceived 26 years ago and the philosophy was to provide Australian pianists with a professional platform to showcase their talent and propel their careers,” said ANPA President Darryl Coote. “This Award has since grown in stature and is now considered one of the nation’s premier classical piano competitions. Recent winners Tony Lee (2016), Alex Raineri...