Hilton Head International Piano Competition 2025 winners
The Hilton Head International Piano Competition (HHIPC) completed its 27th competition since 1996 on Monday, March 17th, 2025 with the fourth and final round featuring three finalists performing a different piano concerto with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra led by Maestro John Morris Russell.
At the awards ceremony the jury awarded first prize ($20,000, plus other prizes) to 29-year-old American pianist Jonathan Mamora, who performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3. Second prize ($10,000) was given to 24-year-old Polish pianist Piotr Alexewicz, who played Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and third prize ($5,000) was awarded to 23-year-old Croatian pianist Jan Nikovich, who played Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1. Medalist prizes ($2,000) were awarded to three semifinalists: Dominic Chamot (age 29, from Switzerland/Germany), Jiarui Cheng (age 26, from China), and Hyunjin Roh (age 24, from South Korea).
Mr. Mamora, an Indonesian-American pianist from Southern California, was selected as the winner by a jury panel of internationally renowned pianists and pedagogues, including: jury chair Simone Dinnerstein (USA); Marina Lomazov (Ukraine/USA; who is also a former HHIPC winner); HaeSun Paik (South Korea); Peter Takács (Romania/USA); Terrence Wilson (USA); Amy Yang (China/USA); and Wei-Yi Yang (Taiwan/USA).
The HHIPC 2025 began with 19 pianists ranging from age 18 to 30, representing 10 different countries. Each competitor performed two rounds of short solo recitals after which the jury selected six semifinalists to advance to round 3. Those six pianists each performed a 50-minute recital in the semifinals, following which the jury narrowed the field to three finalists, each of whom performed a full piano concerto with the HHSO. The awards ceremony was held immediately after the finals concert, with announcement of the prizes by the jury chair Simone Dinnerstein and HHIPC Director, Steven Shaiman.
Director Shaiman, says, “We congratulate Jonathan on his outstanding performances throughout this competition, and we are particularly excited to welcome him as our new first prize winner, since this is actually his third time competing at the HHIPC! We first heard him here in Hilton Head at only age 14 in 2011—which was our inaugural Young Artist competition—and he also competed in 2022, so the third time was the charm for him to win the whole thing! I’m also thrilled that the performance level by all 19 pianists was staggeringly high, so, on behalf of the HHIPC and our eminent jury, we congratulate all of the competitors and prize winners! “
Two additional discretionary awards were also announced at the award ceremony. The first was the Sascha Gorodnitzki Memorial Prize, a jury discretionary award given to the “most promising non-finalist,” with a trophy and a $1,000 check given to semi-finalist Jiarui Cheng. The second was the Jim Neumeister Memorial Prize, given to the artist who gave the “best performance of the commissioned work” in the first two rounds of the competition, and that trophy and $1,000 check was awarded to semi-finalist Dominic Chamot.
The commissioned work was written specifically for the 2025 HHIPC by prominent American composer Lowell Liebermann, which he entitled Moment Musical, Op. 144. All 19 competitors were required to learn the piece and perform it in one of their two early recital rounds. Director Shaiman, added, “Many elite competitions commission new works to showcase music by living composers, and I decided that this was a priority for the 2025 HHIPC. This was a special challenge for the competitors and also exciting for our sophisticated audiences. I am delighted that our very first competition commission turned out so beautifully, and I am grateful to Lowell for writing it. I must also thank him for his time and attention to select the winner of the Neumeister Memorial prize, since only the composer himself could make that determination of who brought the piece to life in a way that was closest to his artistic vision!”
HHSO Music Director John Morris Russell added, “The HHIPC is a jewel in the cultural crown of the Lowcountry, and I as excited as I was to work with all three remarkable finalists performing with the orchestra, I am eagerly looking forward to welcoming Jonathan back to play a concerto with us in spring 2026!”
The Hilton Head International Piano Competition, one of the leading international piano competitions in the United States, operates with a three-year rotation of events: an adult competition for pianists 18–30 years of age, a young artist competition for pianists 13–17 years of age, and a festival—BravoPiano!—which showcases past prize winners and other prominent keyboard artists performing music ranging from classical to jazz. The HHIPC, inaugurated by the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra in 1996, draws applicants, artists, and audiences from numerous countries the world over, and many HHIPC artists are now enjoying thriving professional careers.
