Canadian pianist Bruce Xiaoyu Li, student of renowned Vietnamese pianist Dang Thai Son, has won the first prize at the 18th Chopin piano competition in Warsaw, Poland, which is considered the world's most prestigious music awards.

Another student of Son, JJ Bui, won the 6th prize.

Son, who himself was the first Asian to win first prize and the gold medal at the same competition in 1980, expressed his pride on his students' achievements on Facebook. The Vietnamese pianist is now teaching at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in the US.

Held every five years since 1927, the Chopin competition would normally have been held last year, but was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year’s competition, held from October 2-23, drew 87 pianists from 18 nations across the globe, including 22 from China, 16 from Poland and 14 from Japan.

Broadcast live on YouTube and via a bespoke mobile app, the contest attracted record online interest. Some 70,000 people watched the result streamed online./.

Source: VNA