The VIII Tbilisi International Piano Competition ended on 16 October 2026 with a clear winner: Taige Wang (USA) received First Prize as well as the prize for artistry and the awards for the best semifinal recital, the best classical sonata and the best Georgian work. Second Prize went to Jiarui Cheng (China), Third Prize to Donghwi Kang (South Korea), followed by Rachel Breen (USA), Sunmin Kim (South Korea) and Haoyu Chen (China).
Alexander Korsantia, the competition’s Artistic Director, brought together a field of 22 pianists from Asia, Europe, America and Australia and a jury chaired by Yoheved Kaplinsky: Michel Béroff, Jane Coop, Alessandro Deljavan, Petras Geniušas, Stanislav Khristenko, Momo Kodama, HaeSun Paik, Nicolas Namoradze, Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń and John Rink.
Over four rounds, from Scarlatti sonatas and Chopin études to a classical sonata, a work by a Georgian composer and a free recital, the finalists reached the concerto round with the Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra under Paweł Przytocki.
More about Alexander Korsantia here.
Photos: © Giorgi Gogatishvili
