The jury's Stage 3 picks have been announced, and while some outcomes were expected, others were surprising.
Seasoned candidates like Kevin Chen and Eric Lu were expected to advance to Stage 3, and they did. However, the jury also chose to keep Piotr Alexewicz and Piotr Pawlak in the competition, despite their erratic Stage 2 performances.
On the other hand, David Khrikuli, William Yang, and Vincent Ong performed better in Stage 2 than in Stage 1, which likely contributed to their advancement to Stage 3.
I regret the elimination of two real artists, Yanyan Bao and Gabriele Strata.
This elimination was surprising, similar to Magdalene Ho's first-round elimination from the 2025 Van Cliburn Competition.
Author's summary: Chopin Competition 2025 jury announces Stage 3 picks.