Aristo Sham, 29, from Hong Kong, took the top prize in the 17th Van Cliburn International Piano competition in Fort Worth.
He was also voted the audience favorite, as determined by more than 9,000 votes.
As confident as these players have to be to endure nearly three grueling weeks of performances, Sham was somewhere between being surprised and unsurprised by the win.
"You just never know what the variables are," said Sham in a press briefing after his victory. "So what I try to do is just be the absolute best version of myself and present that. And I could not control anything else. I just focused on my stuff and tried to be the best that I can."
"Incredibly grateful"
Vitaly Starikov, 30, from Israel and Russia, won silver.
"So I can hardly imagine what happened right now. I'm just happy and probably the better understanding of what happened probably will come later," said Starikov.
Evren Ozel, 26,from Minneapolis, won bronze. Judges also picked his Mozart piano concerto as the best among the required Mozart concertos every semi-finalist had to play. Ozel played Mozart's Concerto Number 25, even though he'd never played it with an orchestra before.
"So I felt incredibly grateful to get to do it with the Fort Worth Symphony and Maestro (Carlos) Prieto. It was very exciting also because it was my first time trying my own cadenzas for a concerto in such a high-pressure setting," Ozel said.
The competition is named for Van Cliburn, who won the first Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 1958, at the height of the cold war. The quadrennial Cliburn competition began in Fort Worth in 1962. Van Cliburn participated in them, visiting the competitors and hearing performances during the competitions. He died in 2013.
In addition to Sham's gold medal, he also gets $100,000 cash, a live recording, international concert bookings and management for three years and a wardrobe from Neiman Marcus.
Starikov wins $50,000 and a promotional package including press kits, videos, and a website. He'll also receive three years of career management and U.S. concert tours and a live album.
Ozel receives $25,000, three years of management and U.S. concert tours, a live album and a promotional package.
Other winners
The judges also awarded these prizes to other contestants:
The winner of the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work, with a cash prize of $5,000, is Yangrui Cai, China, 24.
The winner of the Best Performance of the Mozart Concerto Award, with a cash prize of $5,000, is Evren Ozel, United States, 26.
The winner of the John Giordano Jury Chairman Discretionary Award, with a cash prize of $4,000, is Mikhail Kambarov, Russia, 24.
The winner of the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award, with a cash prize of $4,000, is Jonas Aumiller, Germany, 26.
The winner of the Patricia and Neal Steffen Family Jury Discretionary Award, with a cash prize of $4,000, is Alice Burla, Canada, 28.
The Carla and Kelly Thompson Audience Award was determined by more than 9,000 votes. The Audience Award winner is Aristo Sham Hong Kong China, 29, who will receive a cash award of $2,500.
The remaining three finalists will each receive the Kleinheinz Family Finalist Award, with cash prizes of $10,000 each. They are Carter Johnson, Canada/United States, 28; Philipp Lynov, Russia, 26; and Angel Stanislav Wang, United States, 22.
The semifinalists will receive cash awards of $5,000 each; quarterfinalists receive $2,500, and preliminary Round competitors receive $1,000.
Copyright 2025 KERA
