Pianists Victoria Fang '25, Crystal Pang '28, and Jeremy Cao '28 competed in the finals of the 12th César Franck International Piano Competition in Belgium from Dec. 19-22.
Victoria earned first prize in the age 17-21 category. In the age 14-16 category, Jeremy earned second prize and Crystal earned third prize.
This important piano competition welcomed about 60 applications from all over the world, and it was judged by a panel of pianists from Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Romania, Israel, and the U.S. These three Hotchkiss pianists completed a highly competitive video selection round to attend the finals.
Crystal and Jeremy performed 15-minute rounds. Jeremy’s program included pieces by Beethoven, Chopin, and Prokofiev. Crystal’s round included works by Beethoven, Chopin, and Ravel. Victoria performed a 30-minute final round featuring works by Haydn, Schumann, and Hough.
These three talented pianists were joined in Belgium by Fabio Witkowski, the Joanne Eastman Sohrweide Chair, head of the Visual and Performing Arts Department, director of music technology, and instructor in piano, and Gisele Witkowski, instructor in piano.