The final round of the Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition was a thrilling day of fantastic performances. The finalists performed live at University of South Carolina’s Johnson Hall in the Darla Moore School of Business. Due to the ongoing pandemic, there was no audience present in the concert hall, but the performance was watched by thousands of viewers from around the world. We are thankful to our viewers for their enthusiastic and lively support of the performers in the chat box of the livestream. After deliberation, the jury announced the following results to the livestream audience:
First Prize: Caleb Borick
Second Prize: Lucas Amory
Third Prize: Karina Tseng
Young Jury Award: Lucas Amory
Best Solo Work: Lucas Amory
Discretionary Award: Ben Hoang
Discretionary Award: Katie Liu
2020 Arthur Fraser International Piano Competition Results

The finalists competed for over $10,000 in prizes and numerous performance opportunities. The First Prize winner, Caleb Borick, will perform a complete concerto with the South Carolina Philharmonic in the Masterworks concert series during the 2021/2022 season. The Second and Third Prize winners, Lucas Amory and Karina Tseng, will have opportunities to perform with the SC Philharmonic and SC Youth Orchestra at the discretion of the South Carolina Philharmonic Music Director. Additional professional engagements are offered to all prize winners.

Through our partnership with YoungArts, all prizewinners will automatically advance past the regional screening round, should they choose to apply to that program. The National YoungArts Foundation is the only organization in the United States empowered to nominate the U.S. Presidential Scholars in the Arts, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.

The day before the finals, we enjoyed a lovely outdoor performance featuring The Concert Truck and the competition finalists. The Concert Truck, founded by Nick Luby and festival alumnus Susan Zhang, is a sixteen-foot box truck converted into a mobile concert hall complete with lights, sound system, and piano. The concert was held in front of the Koger Center for the Arts for a socially-distanced audience.

Congratulations to all finalists for their brilliant performances, hard work, and dedication!