Meet The winner of the 2025 Nashville International Chopin Piano Competition
When Guangbin Wang took the stage at Nashville’s Collins Auditorium on December 19, 2025, he did more than deliver an extraordinary performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1—he made history. The 23-year-old pianist from China, who has been completely blind since the age of one, captured first place at the Nashville International Chopin Piano Competition, performing on a Shigeru Kawai SK-EX concert grand piano. Wang’s selection speaks volumes about the instrument that has become his voice on the international stage.
Wang’s journey to the winner’s podium is nothing short of remarkable. Having lost his vision at just one year old, his entire musical development has relied on what the competition describes as “exceptional auditory perception and tactile sensitivity.” This unique relationship with sound led him to the SK-EX, a piano he owns at home in the smaller SK-3 model. For Wang, performing on the full concert grand SK-EX was a new experience, yet his familiarity with the Shigeru Kawai sound proved instrumental to his success. Throughout all three rounds—preliminary, semifinal, and final—Wang remained loyal to the SK-EX, describing its touch as “very natural and easy to play” and praising its tone as presenting “a new challenge for expression.” His technical mastery is legendary: he learned Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto in just one month and performs entirely from memory without slips, even independently voicing each line of a Bach fugue at the keyboard.
The competition jury, led by chairwoman Graciella Kowalczyk, gave extraordinary praise to the SK-EX used throughout the event, calling it “a perfect piano with nothing to criticize.” What makes this recognition even more significant is that Wang’s selection was based purely on the instrument’s merit in a field that included the most prestigious piano brands in the world. Of the 18 pianists in the Artist Division, 13 chose the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX for their preliminary rounds, with participants consistently noting it was “very easy to play and had excellent resonance.” Jury member and Artist Ingmar Lazar selected the SK-EX for his concert performance, stating, “Honestly speaking, it is a very fine piano, and I cannot find any issues with it.”
Wang’s first-place victory continues Shigeru Kawai’s remarkable legacy at international piano competitions, where the hand-crafted SK-EX has been chosen by winners at prestigious events worldwide, including the Sydney International Piano Competition, the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, and the Sendai International Music Competition. For a pianist whose entire artistic development depends on the subtleties of sound and touch, Wang’s choice of the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX affirms what the piano community increasingly recognizes: that this instrument delivers the expressive range, tonal clarity, and responsive action that world-class artists demand. His victory in Nashville isn’t just a personal triumph—it’s a testament to the synergy between an artist’s extraordinary talent and an instrument capable of translating every nuance of that talent into unforgettable musical moments.