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.
OUR INTERVIEW WITH GUANGBIN WANG
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How do you feel about being selected as a finalist and receiving an award?
“I felt incredibly happy, excited, especially when playing with the orchestra. Every moment was a delightful experience. However, one thing that cannot be overlooked is that I really made a lot of effort and dedication to achieve that.“
How do you feel about being selected as a finalist and receiving an award?
“I found that many people in this competition chose the SK as their personal instrument (including myself), for which I was not surprised. The standout features of the SK in this competition were its diverse expressions of musical images and its natural feel of the touch. Firstly, in terms of musical presentation, the SK could convey a wide range of musical emotions and images, such as the poetic pieces like Chopin’s Nocturnes, Ballades, Preludes, Etudes, as well as the hazy effects of Debussy and Ravel, also the grandiosity of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, etc. Secondly, when playing with an orchestra, the SK’s tone is highly penetrating, especially when performing Chopin’s concertos or Tchaikovsky 1, Rachmaninoff 3. Additionally, the SK can handle various musical styles, not only classical, but also jazz, funk, R&B, pop & Rock, etc. Furthermore, in terms of the feel of the piano keys, the SK had a very natural feel, even when moving quickly over extremely soft notes, such as in the fourth movement of Chopin’s Second Sonata. Overall, in my opinion, the SK is a powerful, beautiful, and highly capable instrument.”
What does music / the piano mean to you?
“Music has been my lifelong companion. I can’t live without it for even a moment. Sometimes, my thoughts are entirely consumed by music. The piano is the same way. Sometimes I find it’s difficult to express something in words, and perhaps the piano can help me. Overall, music is the most important part of my life.”
What would you like to communicate or convey through music / the piano—to the audience, to society, or to yourself?
“I want to share my unique exploration and understanding of music with them, allowing them to hear different treatments and effects in music. In this competition, I was also awarded the “Best Etude Performance” by the judges on top of receiving the 1st prize. This recognition was due to my extensive studying , thinking and understanding of various styles of playing in different periods of piano performances. I fully integrate my understanding into the treatment of each piece to create a unique style of my own. And I want to share this with the audience when I perform every time. In this competition It seemed like the judges and the audience liked the way I played and I am very happy about that.”
What are your plans and aspirations for the future?
“In the future, I plan to delve deeper into more genres of music including orchestral works, operas, chamber music, also jazz, avant-garde, and even folk music to broaden the scope of my musical understanding. And I think eventually this will be reflected in my playing on the piano. I’d love to share that with people in the future.”
– Guangbin Wang
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.