March and April 2021 continued to be a period of distancing for everyone’s safety. Therefore, the 4th International Piano Competition of Viseu was forced to perform all its performances online. 24 participants from 12 countries (South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Canada, Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, Spain, Romania, Austria, Czech Republic and the U.S.A.) responded to our call. The first qualifying round took place on 26 and 27 March where 9 participants stood out: Qing Li, Andy Chung, Anastasia Rizikov, Alexander Stretile, Nikolai Kuznetsov, Stanislav Korchagin, Su Yeon Kim, Illia Ovcharenko and Yupeng Mei.
The semi-finals were fierce and the emotion exuded by each participant made us anticipate an impressive final. After two days of concerts, the finalists were finally chosen and the performances did not disappoint. The jury eventually awarded first prize to Ukrainian Illia Ovcharenko, followed by Qing Li (China) in second place and third place Nikolai Kutznetsov (Russia). Between them, the winners take home 13,000€ and the first place will have the opportunity to come to Viseu to participate in the 15th edition of the festival, as well as to perform in Paris for at the Salle Cortot.
Another highlight is Alexander Stretile who was elected the Best Portuguese of the competition and, remarkably, is the first to reach a semi-final in the four editions of the competition.
We would like to thank all the participants who have enriched this edition so much. We hope that in 2023, we will meet again in our city, Viseu.

Prizes

1st prize – 8000 €

+ A concert at the 13h Viseu International Spring Music Festival (2022);
+ A concert in Paris, at Salle Cortot, for Animato Society.

2nd prize – 3000 €
3rd prize – 1500 €
Prize for the Best Portuguese Contestant – 500€

1st Viseu International Piano Competition (2015)

1st Prize – Aristo Sham (Hong Kong)
2nd Prize – Jiacheng Xiong (China)
3rd Prize – DongJun Miao (China)
Audience Award – Jiacheng Xiong (China)
Best Portuguese Pianist – Vasco Dantas Rocha (Portugal)

2nd Viseu International Piano Competition (2017)

1st Prize – DongJun Miao (China)
2nd Prize – Adi Neuhaus (Israel)
3rd Prize – Yutong Gao (China)
Audience Award – Adi Neuhaus (Israel)

3rd Viseu International Piano Competition (2019)

1st Prize Ex Aequo – Qianyi Xu (China)
1st Prize Ex Aequo – Xiaoyu Liu (Canada)
3rd Prize – Grigoris Ioannou (Greece)
Audience Award – Qianyi Xu (China)
Best Portuguese Pianist – Rafael Kyrychenko (Portugal)

4th Viseu International Piano Competition (2021)

1st Prize – Illia Ovcharenko (Ukraine)
2nd Prize – Qing Li (China)
3rd Prize – Nikolai Kuznetsov (Russia)
Best Portuguese Pianist – Alexander Stretile (Portugal)