The 3rd Samson François International Piano Competition took place in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France, from June 29 to July 4, with the selection of the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX full concert grand piano as the official instrument for the event.
Kawai France's technical director, Louis-Marie Boussuge, was dispatched to this competition to take charge of piano tuning. Thanks to his diligent efforts and meticulous preparation of the pianos, the contestants were able to perform at their best.
The 3rd Samson François International Piano Competition: Final Results
Children Category (Under 9 years old - born after June 28, 2014)
| 1st Prize | Yisong Xu | China |
| 2nd Prize | Nora Kostenko | Ukraine |
| 3rd Prize | Maya Riva | Italy |
| Pierre Lanoë Special Prize | Hermance Liu | France |
Young Talent Category (Under 12 years old - born after June 30, 2011)
| 1st Prize | Anselme Cho | France |
| Lucie Le Balc'h | France | |
| 3rd Prize | Nora Kostenko | Ukraine |
| Yuzhi Iris Luo | China | |
| Pierre Lanoë Special Prize | Lauriane Despierres | France |
Junior Category (Under 15 years old - born after July 1, 2008)
| 1st Prize | Henry Wang | New Zealand |
| 2nd Prize | Senkei Oshima Ciccone | France |
| 3rd Prize | Anselme Cho | France |
Young Artist Category (Under 20 years old - born after July 2, 2003)
| 1st Prize | Asta Dora Finnsdottir | Iceland |
| 2nd Prize | Paul Salard | France |
| 3rd Prize | Oleksandr Dzvinkovskyi | Ukraine |
| Chiara Bleve | Italy |
Artist Category (Under 32 years old - born after July 4, 1991)
| Grand Prix and Recital Estivales | Dmytro Semykras | Ukraine/Austria |
| Special Prize for the Best Interpretation of the Cadenza of Samson François and Recital Estivales | Daniel Streicher | Germany/Hungary |
| Special Prize for the Best Interpretation of French Music and Recital Estivales | German Skripachev | Russia |
| Special Prize for the Best Interpretation of Nocturne de Gabriel Fauré and Special Prize Recital Bernard Olivieri | Zhiqiao Zhang | China |
| Special Prize for the Interpretation of Chopin and Recital Estivales | Asta Dora Finnsdottir | Iceland |
| Special Prize and Recital Château Grimaldi | Anna Ojiro | Japan |
Comments from prize winner
■ Dmytro Semykras (Artist Category)
I am writing to extend my heartfelt thanks for the fantastic conditions provided during the recent piano competition, particularly the exceptional Shigeru Kawai grand piano. The quality of the instrument truly enhanced my performance and contributed to my success in winning first place.
Dmytro Semykras (second from left) and the Kawai France staff
Comments from Nicolas Bringuier and Olga Monakh, Artistic Directors of the Samson François International Piano Competition
All the team of the Samson Francois International Piano Competition wanted to express to you and Kawai France our thankfulness and gratitude for the wonderful Shigeru Kawai SK-EX provided for our competition. The instrument was extremely well prepared by Louis-Marie Boussuge and all the competitors made a lot of compliments about it.
As co-artistic directors with Olga Monakh, we have a very long relationship with Shigeru Kawai and love it for many reasons:
the perfection of its mechanics, its equality in the different registers, the possibility to play extremely soft without losing the control, the transparency and crystalline quality of the sound and everything which makes this instrument so special.
All the jury members were also very impressed; Philippe Cassard, the jury's president in the Artist Category discovered the instrument and fell in love with it.
From the smallest children to the elder Grands Amateurs, everyone enjoyed the privilege they had to play on this dream instrument.
We are so happy to collaborate since the first edition with Kawai France and are already working enthusiastically on the 4th edition in 2025.
About the Samson François International Piano Competition
This is a piano competition named after the famous French pianist Samson François. It was established to honor the artistic legacy of him. The purpose of this competition is to introduce the skills and talents of young pianists to the world. Applications are accepted from all over the world, attracting participants from many different nationalities. Candidates can enter and compete in several categories.
Official website: https://lesnocturnesdupiano.com/
About the Shigeru Kawai SK-EX full concert grand piano
Unveiled in 2001 as the flagship instrument of the Shigeru Kawai line, the SK-EX concert grand piano is hand-crafted in limited numbers following a unique ‘prototyping’ creation process. In order to achieve the supreme range of expression required in a concert piano, each instrument utilises a variety of carefully selected materials, with premium aged spruce soundboards. Shigeru Kawai instruments adopt the advanced Millennium III keyboard action, featuring extended wooden keys and advanced ABS Carbon action parts, providing superior speed and responsiveness than conventional wooden action parts, allowing pianists to express a greater range of feeling and emotion in their performance.
Official website: https://www.shigerukawai.jp/en/
