American pianist Eric Lu has made history by becoming only the second American to win the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, returning to triumph a full decade after his fourth-place finish as a teenager. The 27-year-old musician is also the first contestant in the competition's history to earn prizes in two separate editions, marking a remarkable comeback story in the classical music world.
Lu's decision to return to one of the world's most challenging piano competitions came from a deep sense of unfinished business. "I felt that while my career was going well, it was not at the level that I have the ambitions for," Lu told reporters during his recent visit to Seoul, where he performed with the KBS Symphony Orchestra under Grammy-winning conductor Leonard Slatkin. His Seoul appearance was part of a winners' tour that included concerts in Ulsan and Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang Province.
The path back to Warsaw was fraught with anxiety and doubt. When Lu first considered re-entering the competition two and a half years ago, he described experiencing immediate physical reactions. "Just imagining myself going on stage, I would get nervous instantly. My heart would start racing, exactly the way it does right before I perform," he recalled. The initial reactions from those around him were largely discouraging, with many colleagues saying they wouldn't attempt such a risky move themselves. Even his parents' immediate response was a firm "Oh, no, no."
Despite the concerns, Lu's career had flourished significantly since his 2015 competition appearance at age 17. After winning first prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 2018, he performed with renowned orchestras including the Boston Symphony, London Symphony, and Chicago Symphony orchestras. His career highlights included appearances at prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall, the BBC Proms, the Hollywood Bowl, and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, along with releasing two albums with Warner Classics featuring works by Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms.
What ultimately drove Lu to return was an emotional connection to the stage and his growth as an artist. "I felt an emotional connection to this stage because I had so many good memories from 2015. I was so young then. I felt like I played for so many people at such a fragile age in my life when I wasn't really ready to do it," he explained. "So I felt OK this time, I'm more ready, but of course, this time was with far more pressure." The idea crystallized into a concrete plan about a year and a half ago, though Lu experienced constant internal conflict throughout his preparation.
The decision-making process was grueling, with Lu weighing every possible outcome. "Maybe at one point it was 80 percent don't go and 20 percent go, but it never became 100-to-zero," he remembered. "As I invested more and more time into the repertoire, I felt that you only live once – this was my last chance to do it." The pressure only intensified once he arrived in Warsaw, where he felt overwhelmed enough to want to leave the city entirely.
The competition nearly ended in disaster during the final round. Lu suffered a finger injury and caught a cold severe enough that his performance, originally scheduled for October 15, had to be postponed to October 16 and moved to the very end of the competition schedule. Feeling unwell and overwhelmed, he told his manager he should withdraw from the competition entirely. However, he ultimately couldn't bear to abandon all the hard work he had invested in the preparation.
For the final round, Lu performed Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21, and the Polonaise-Fantaisie in A-flat Major, Op. 61. His choice proved historically significant, as he became only the second pianist in the competition's history to win with the second concerto. The first was his own teacher, Dang Thai Son, who was the first Asian pianist ever to win this prestigious event.
While Lu appeared smiling in the ceremony photos, he revealed that the victory didn't fully sink in until much later. "It was not until October 28 – at my Berlin Philharmonic debut, one week after the final – that I finally felt I could properly enjoy it a little bit," he said. The celebration was made even more meaningful by the presence of Korean pianist Cho Seong-jin, who won the 2015 Chopin Competition when the two became friends. Cho had traveled to Warsaw to support Lu before the second round and remained "a very, very wonderful supporter throughout the whole experience, and even afterward," according to Lu.
Reflecting on the decade between his two Chopin Competition appearances, Lu describes his artistic evolution as a natural process rather than a conscious effort to change. "I wasn't consciously trying to change, but change happens naturally," he explained. "When you live with music for so long, your understanding deepens, and you show different sides of yourself at different stages of life. Experience gives you more assurance about who you are and what you want to say."
Despite his artistic growth, Lu's fundamental approach to music has remained consistent. "Fundamentally, you want to express the emotional world of the composer – their psychology at the moment of writing – and transmit that to people on an intuitive level. That was my goal from the beginning. The goal doesn't change, but how you do it does," he added.
With his historic victory now behind him, Lu is looking ahead to expanding his repertoire in exciting new directions. "One project I definitely want to take on in the next few years is Schubert's last piano sonata, D. 960," he revealed. "I'd love to finish learning all the Beethoven concertos and play more Russian music – especially Rachmaninoff." He also expressed particular enthusiasm for exploring more works by Bach, whom he considers "perhaps my absolute favorite composer" after Schubert, noting that he "hasn't played much of him yet" and would "love to explore more."
