First Prize Winner of the 2015 National Chopin Competition performs his first concert in Miami

Miami, March 18, 2015 – The Chopin Foundation is pleased to announce that the First Prize Winner of the 2015 National Chopin Piano Competition, 17-year old Eric Lu, returns to Miami for his concert debut on April 12, 2015.

What: Chopin Salon Concert features piano recital of Eric Lu, 17, the First Prize Winner of the 2015 National Chopin Piano Competition, followed by wine reception and dinner.

When: April 12, 4 pm

Where: La Gorce Country Club, 5685 Alton Rd., Miami Beach

Program: Schubert and Chopin

Concert and wine reception free to Chopin members; dinner $55.
Non-members and guests, $45 concert; $100 all inclusive.
Reservations required at 305.868.0624 or at [email protected].
More information at www.chopin.org

Eric Lu, born in 1997, won the first prize and the concerto prize at the 9th National Chopin Competition in Miami last month. His prize package includes $75,000 cash and a concert tour in the USA and abroad.

Eric has already established himself as one of the finest pianists of the younger generation and has received top prizes at a number of major international competitions. In August of 2014, he received the 1st prize at the 9th Moscow International Chopin Competition for Young Pianists. In 2013, Eric triumphed at the Minnesota International e-Piano Junior Competition, receiving the 1st Prize, along with the special Schubert Prize. The competition concluded with a final round performance with the Minnesota Orchestra. In 2010, Eric won the 1st Prize of the prestigious 12th Ettlingen International Piano Competition in Germany. Other awards include the special prize chosen by the public at the 2011 Junior Academy Eppan in Italy.

Eric’s upcoming winner’s concert tour includes recital and concerto performances across the US, including a recital at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall and at the Newport Music Festival. He has also been invited to give a recital at the famed Salle Cortot in Paris, and will make appearances in Spain, Canada, Armenia, and Poland.

His past performances include appearances at the Asamsaal Castle, Stadthalle Ettlingen, Raiffeisen Forum Lanserhaus in Germany, and in Italy. In the summer of 2014, he performed in several locations in China. Other venues include performances at Boston’s Jordan Hall, Philadelphia’s Field Concert Hall, Minneapolis’s Ted Mann Concert Hall, Birmingham’s Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center, among others. Eric has collaborated with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Chopin Foundation Orchestra, The State Youth Orchestra of Armenia, Wellesley Symphony, the Longwood Symphony, and the Boston Civic Symphony.

Eric Lu started studying the piano at the age of 6 with Mrs. Dorothy Shi. While at the New England Conservatory Preparatory School, he studied piano with Alexander Korsantia, and Mr. A. Ramon Rivera. In 2013, at the age of 15, he was admitted to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he currently studies. His currant teachers at Curtis are Jonathan Biss and Robert McDonald. He is also a student of the renowned Chinese pianist Dang Thai Son.