The 2026 Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition concluded last Saturday, June 27. For the final round, five skilled pianists in the young artist category performed with the Utah Symphony.
Hundreds of pianists audition for this competition, so selecting just five final competitors is no easy task.
“This year, for both competitions, we had 316 applications from 28 countries,” said Kary Billings, executive director of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation. “Out of all of those we invited 160 to perform 30-minute concerts in five different international cities Hamburg, Germany, New York City, Seoul, Korea, Shanghai, China and then Salt Lake City.”
Billings has been volunteering with the Bachauer Foundation since he was 18. His piano teacher and founder of the competition, Paul Pollei, got him involved. Now, Billings serves as the executive director and participated as a member of the jury in this year’s preliminary rounds. “We had a four-person jury in each city and heard amazing performances in each city,” he said. “So, 160 were still in the running, and then out of those we chose 56.”
After their selection, the 56 pianists came to Salt Lake City Utah to compete in the quarter finals of the competition. From there, five were chosen to compete in the final round.
Why Utah?
Although the competition’s preliminary rounds take place across many cities, the final rounds are always hosted in Utah. “It’s our home, we began here,” Billings said. “Paul Pollei was amazing at bringing the world here to Utah. That’s probably why he started the competition: To get the world excited about being in Utah and letting people know that we are into music and thriving in Utah. That was part of his passion.”
Utah fosters community, which keeps the competition coming back. All the competitors need host homes, which can be difficult to find. “The spirit of hospitality and giving is so strong here in Utah that we [found] 56 homes with pianos for all these competitors for nearly two weeks,” Billings said. “Here, the competitors feel like they’re part of the family. They just feel something very close and personal when they come to Utah.”
Practice makes perfect
In order to keep up their skills, the competitors must maintain their rigorous practice schedules while they stay in Utah. “Two of the finalists actually practiced at our church, on our Steinway,” said Mike Green, the trustee of the First United Methodist Church in Salt Lake City. “We have a 1912 Steinway in our sanctuary at First Methodist, so we’ve been hosting some of the practices. It’s been fun to listen to.”
The practice was evident in the performances of the final five contestants. Selections of music from Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky captivated the audience throughout the evening.
“These are the prodigies of tomorrow,” Green said. “To have the opportunity to just enjoy great classical music from such young artists, it’s just an honor and a privilege to be able to experience them firsthand and get to know them on a personal basis and make new friends across the world.”
The hard work and countless practice hours paid off as the results of the competition came in. Ziyu Shao, 16, of China took first place, with Eunha Basu, 16, of USA following in second and Jaeong Lee, 17, of South Korea claiming third. Yichen Sang. 17, from China and Matthew Chang, 17, from the USA were awarded the finalist prizes. The non-finalist Ryusei Kobayashi was awarded the Gorodnitzki Foundation Discretionary prize. The foundation offered over $50,000 in prize money to competitors.
Looking towards the future
Though the Bachauer Foundation is concluding its 50th year, they look forward to what the next 50 years will bring.
“It’s a privilege to be part of something that’s still here 50 years later,” Billings said. “We’re 50 years strong and we’re looking towards the next 50 years. We want the constant factor to be excellence, pursuing the best in performance and the best in competitors applying to be here.”
