Kevin Chen, a 20-year-old pianist from Calgary, has finished second at the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw while American Eric Lu went home with the gold.

Chen was one of 11 finalists who performed a concerto with the Warsaw Philharmonic and conductor Andrey Boreyko in the competition's final round, held on Oct. 18, 19 and 20. Of the 84 total competitors at this year’s event, there were five Canadians, including Victoria Wong, Ryan Wang, Eric Guo and Athena Deng.

The winner was chose after several hours of deliberations by a 17-person international jury chaired by American pianist Garrick Ohlsson. First prize in the 98-year-old competition comes with a cash prize of 60,000 euro, or about $98,000 Cdn, and a gold medal from the president of Poland.

Chen

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