Competition does give opportunities to those who are not yet known to the world, the winner is the top at the time and place, but with winning, he/she will be able to mature as finer musicians through stage and recording performance opportunities.
Classical music is telling history, art that traveled through time. For deeper understanding, students need to have exposures for life style, art, culture the Western world and deep understanding of the composer 's personal life and circumstances under which this piece was written. You can't access all that in a heavily censored country like China. Musicians need to read broadly , feel deeply, experience boldly to bring all that into the music. Just sitting there practice will not make a great musician
I was very excited to see you finally talking about 2022 Cliburn -- which celebrated a historic success for discovering the 18-year-old Korean winner YunChan Lim. I am very disappointed you didn't even mention him at all and didn't do Cliburn justice!!! (May be because his is not Chinese? If you limit discussions to Chinese pianists, then there aren't many to talk about) YunChan Lim has all the qualities you mentioned that makes a great pianist-- a great storyteller, flawless technique, very spontaneous --he improvises during performance, even added notes to Rach 3 during the final's competition. (see video below), he played the same piece differently every time in a way we have never heard before. I live in Dallas TX , went to both 2022 Cliburn competition concerts and YunChan Lim's home coming concert Sept 2023. His playing is from another world, very sensitive, original, with a magical quality what makes you not wanting to miss a single note. Familiar pieces sound like a new and different piece when he plays it. That night after his concert, I came home and sat there for a long time trying to process everything, such an extra ordinary experience. I have been to many concerts, never felt this way before. This is a clip from his Cliburn Finals 2022, which he said only brought out 30% of what he wanted to express. He played Rach 3 again few months later in NYC and played it completely different! He is world's most praised young pianist today, at 19 only, sold out concerts worldwide! He has already been compared to other master pianists of the past. Can't wait to see what he will become in a few years. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DPJL488cfRw.html I also went to 2023 Cliburn Youth competition finals concert. South Korean won gold and a Chinese kid from Shanghai Wu Yi Fan took silver. I was very impressed by his musicality, great interpretations and maturity at age 14!.
