Alexander Kashpurin Wins Liszt Competition in Utrecht
Alexander Kashpurin, an associate professor at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, has won the first prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition held in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Feb 16, 2026 0
Russian pianist Alexander Kashpurin at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht where he secured the top award.
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Petersburg pianist Alexander Kashpurin has won first place at the International Franz Liszt Competition in Utrecht. Silver went to British pianist Thomas Kelly, and bronze to South Korean musician Kang Tae Kim.
In the grand finale, Kashpurin performed Liszt«s Second Piano Concerto with orchestra. The piece was accompanied by the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of French conductor Stéphane Denève.
The competition laureates will embark on a concert tour across Europe. The tour program includes performances at various venues, including the famous Amsterdam Concertgebouw.
The Liszt Competition was founded in 1986 to mark the centenary of the composer«s death and is held every three years in Utrecht. The selection process took two years: video auditions were held in 2024, and live auditions for the top 20 pianists in the world took place in 2025.
Alexander Kashpurin is a concert pianist and conductor. He graduated from the St. Petersburg Music Lyceum in the class of Irina Lobikova, the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and completed a postgraduate assistantship under Professor Tatyana Zagorovskaya. Kashpurin is also a laureate of the St. Petersburg Government award «Pedagogical Hopes.»
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