Eric Lu Named Winner of 2025 International Chopin Competition

Written by Joseph John L. Verallo  |  October 21, 2025

American pianist Eric Lu has just been declared the first prize winner of the 2025 International Chopin Piano Competition. Before this, Lu won 4th place at the 17th Chopin competition last 2015. This year, through the considerations of such jurors as the esteemed pianists Garrick Ohlsson and Đặng Thái Sơn (both previous winners of the competition in 1970 and 1980 respectively), Lu was announced as the recipient of the competition’s 60,000 euro first-prize award.

Now in its 19th run, the International Chopin Piano Competition first began in 1927 and, since 1955, has been continuing every five years. Arguably classical music’s version of the Olympics, the “Chopin Competition” is a celebration of the Polish composer’s music held at Warsaw, Poland where the composer grew up. Throughout the years, several talented pianists have pilgrimaged to Warsaw to showcase their talent at the competition. 

Previous winners include big names such as Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, Krystian Zimerman, and Yundi Li. Within this pantheon of pianists, 27-year-old Eric Lu now stands. Born in Massachusetts in 1997, Lu began studying piano at the age of six and has been winning competitions like the 2017 International German Piano award and the 2018 Leeds International Piano Competition. Lu’s career brightens even more exponentially with the addition of this recent win.

Photo used in this article was taken from EricLuPianist.com.