Delvan Lin, New Zealand

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Delvan Lin is one of the country’s foremost emerging pianists. He gave his first public performance at age 10 and has since performed on stages across four continents, including broadcasts on Radio NZ Concert’s Upbeat and The Arts Channel (Sky TV New Zealand).

Delvan has won first prizes in all of New Zealand’s major piano competitions, becoming the youngest winner of both the Wallace National Piano Competition and the PACANZ Young Performer of the Year Award. Internationally, he has been a laureate at the American International Piano Festival and Curtis Young Artist Summer Program Concerto Competition as well as the Lev Vlassenko, MTNA, Marian Garcia International, NEC Honors, and Tureck International Bach Competitions.

A dedicated chamber musician, Delvan is a two-time winner of the CMNZ National Chamber Music Competition with the Sollertinsky and L’arc en ciel Trios. He is the founding pianist of the Aurelian Trio, which received the Royal Over-Seas League Chamber Music Scholarship in 2017, leading to a UK tour with performances at St James’s Piccadilly, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Lake District Summer Music, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Delvan has appeared with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonic, Manukau Symphony, Bach Musica Auckland, Aotea Youth Symphony, and orchestras affiliated with the Curtis Institute of Music.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Eastman School of Music (studying with Netlita True and Alan Chow), a Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory (studying with Dang Thai Son and Meng-Chieh Liu), and is currently pursuing an Artist Diploma at the Curtis Institute of Music under Michelle Cann.

First Round

  • Sergei Rachmaninoff: Prelude in b minor, Op. 32, No. 10
  • Sergei Rachmaninoff: Étude-Tableau in e-flat minor, Op. 39, No. 5
  • Johann Sebastian Bach: Prelude and Fugue in g minor, No. 16, from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book II, BWV 885
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonata No. 4 in E-flat Major, Op. 7, “Grand Sonata”
    1. Allegro molto e con brio
    2. Largo, con gran espressione
    3. Allegro
    4. Rondo: Poco allegretto e grazioso
  • Frédéric Chopin: Étude in a minor, Op. 25, No. 11, “Winter Wind”

Quarterfinal Round

  • Olga Kern: Status Animae (State of Soul)—Two Pieces for Solo Piano
    1. Meditation
    2. Rhythm Obsession
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Six Bagatelles, Op. 126
    1. Andante con moto, cantabile e compiacevole
    2. Allegro
    3. Andante, cantabile e grazioso
    4. Presto
    5. Quasi allegretto
    6. Presto—Andante amabile e con moto
  • Franz Liszt: Sonata in b minor, S. 178

Semifinal Round—Chamber Music

  • Johannes Brahms: Piano Quintet in f minor, Op. 34
    1. Allegro non troppo
    2. Andante, un poco adagio
    3. Scherzo: Allegro
    4. Finale: Poco sostenuto—Allegro non troppo—Presto, non troppo

Final Round

  • Sergei Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3 in d minor, Op. 30
    1. Allegro ma non tanto
    2. Intermezzo: Adagio
    3. Finale: Alla breve

2025 Participants

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