![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Titre_Pianists-2025.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The Official Pianists of the Concours are the designated collaborative pianists who perform alongside the competitors of the 2026 edition, dedicated this year to the violin. These four pianists adapt with sensitivity to the artistic vision and expressiveness of each competitor, in order to best support their musical interpretation. \u00a0These accomplished artists perform with the violinists of Concours 2026 for the First Round and Semifinal recitals.<\/span><\/p>\n Born and raised\u00a0in Ottawa, Canadian pianist\u00a0and composer\u00a0Carson Becke\u00a0has performed worldwide.\u00a0He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, UK, and at the University of Oxford, where he completed a doctorate in musicology.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As a chamber musician, Carson enjoys frequent collaborations with sopranos Meghan Lindsay and Lavinia Dames, pianist Suren Barry as Duo Octavian, and cellist Julia MacLaine.\u00a0\u00a0As a composer, Carson\u2019s work\u00a0is\u00a0often inspired by his surroundings in the Gatineau Hills of Quebec;\u00a0his\u00a02025 song cycle\u00a0<\/span>The Forest<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is based on newly commissioned poetry about trees by six Gatineau Hills-based poets.\u00a0As an arranger, he\u00a0has\u00a0written transcriptions of music by\u00a0Mendelssohn\u00a0(<\/span>Hebrides Overture –\u00a0<\/span><\/i>solo piano), Puccini (<\/span>Fantasy on themes from Tosca\u00a0–<\/span><\/i>\u00a0solo piano)<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Holst (<\/span>The Planets\u00a0<\/span><\/i>– piano duo), Richard Strauss (<\/span>Vier\u00a0Letzte\u00a0Lieder\u00a0<\/span><\/i>– piano and voice), and others.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Carson is also the founder and director of\u00a0<\/span>Concerts\u00a0Enchant\u00e9s<\/span><\/i>,\u00a0an organization that presents intimate chamber music concerts across the Gatineau Hills region.\u00a0Carson lived in the United Kingdom for fifteen years. In\u00a02019,\u00a0he moved home to Ottawa, and now lives in Wakefield, Quebec, with his\u00a0family. In 2024, he was inducted into the Chelsea Wall of Fame for his contributions to the cultural life of the Gatineau Hills.<\/span><\/p>\n JINHEE PARK<\/span> Jinhee Park returns to the Concours as an official pianist after her\u00a0more recent\u00a0appearance in 2023. Known for her sensitivity, versatility, and deep musical insight, she is a sought-after collaborative pianist, a foundation that continues to inform her broader musical work.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jinhee has received international acclaim through her long-standing partnership with\u00a0soprano\u00a0Meredith Wohlgemuth. Together, they won first prizes at the Schubert International\u00a0LiedDuo\u00a0Competition in Dortmund in 2023, and at the Concours musical international de Montr\u00e9al\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Art Song in 2022, where Jinhee received each competition\u2019s Best Pianist Award. Recent performances have taken her to Petit Palau in Barcelona,\u00a0SchubertFest\u00a0Dortmund, the Schumann-Haus in Zwickau, and Carnegie Hall.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As a chamber musician, Jinhee has appeared at venues including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Caramoor Music Festival, and the New York Chamber\u00a0Players\u2019\u00a0series. She collaborates\u00a0frequently\u00a0with internationally celebrated artists such as Stella Chen, Dmytro Udovychenko\u00a0(Concours 2023 Grand Laureate), Stephen Kim, and Timothy Chooi. From 2018 to 2024, Jinhee served as a vocal coach at the Chautauqua Institution Opera Conservatory, working closely with legendary pedagogue Marlena Malas.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jinhee made her conducting debut in 2023 with Ravel\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0L\u2019enfant\u00a0et les\u00a0sortil\u00e8ges<\/span><\/i>\u00a0at Chautauqua, and has since worked with the\u00a0L\u00fcneburg\u00a0Symphoniker, Saratoga Orchestra of Whidbey Island,\u00a0OAcademy\u00a0Festival Orchestra, NOI Festival Orchestra and Ensemble, Wintergreen Festival Ensemble, and Camerata\u00a0Notturna, while continuing her involvement in opera productions at the Manhattan School of Music. She completed the Carlos Miguel Prieto Conducting Fellowship in 2025.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A dedicated educator, Jinhee serves on the faculty of the Manhattan School of Music. From 2019 to 2024, she worked at the Perlman Music Program, collaborating closely with young cellists, and she continues to work with violinists at\u00a0The Juilliard School.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Jinhee received her bachelor\u2019s degree in piano performance from Seoul National University. She then completed her master\u2019s degree in collaborative piano at The Juilliard School, followed by an Artist Diploma at the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with esteemed mentors including Jonathan Feldman, Warren Jones, Margo Garrett, and Lydia Brown. In 2025, she earned her Doctorate in collaborative piano from The Juilliard School.<\/span><\/p>\n Described as an \u201cimmensely exciting performer\u201d with \u201cscintillating technique\u201d (<\/span>Barrie Examiner<\/span><\/i>), pianist Benjamin Smith has performed across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. He has been a laureate of\u00a0numerous\u00a0competitions, including the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition and the CMC\u00a0Stepping Stone\u00a0Competition. Soloist appearances include the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, New Juilliard Ensemble, Las Vegas Young Artists Orchestra, Ontario Philharmonic, Orchestra London, and Burlington Symphony, with repertoire including rarities such as the Schoenberg and Schnittke piano concertos. Festivals include Toronto Summer Music, Festival del Lago (Mexico), and Chamber Music at New Park (Ithaca, NY).<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n American performances include recitals for the Texas Chopin Society and Chicago\u2019s Landowska Harpsichord Society, as well as two concerts in Carnegie Hall: as soloist in Gershwin\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Rhapsody\u00a0In\u00a0Blue<\/span><\/i>, and in recital with cellist\u00a0Dongkyun\u00a0An. A disc with Mr. An of Saint-Saens, Schumann, and Beethoven is currently available on streaming platforms. 2025 saw the release of two new albums on the Orchid Classics label, one with cellist Daniel Hamin Go, and one with oboist Ari Cohen Mann.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Devoted to chamber music, Ben has been heard nationally on CBC Music, as well as the BBC in the UK. He has partnered in recital with a myriad of renowned artists, along with ensembles such as the Penderecki, Cecilia, and Annex string quartets. For two seasons he performed as one-third of the\u00a0Israelievitch-Smith-Ahn piano\u00a0trio, and\u00a0recently has been playing as a member of the Andromeda trio.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Dr. Smith serves on the faculties of both the Glenn Gould School\u00a0(GGS)\u00a0and the Taylor Young Artist Academy at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto. Along with a DMA from Stony Brook University, he holds a\u00a0bachelor’s\u00a0degree from the University of Toronto, an Artist Diploma from GGS, and a\u00a0master’s\u00a0from\u00a0The\u00a0Juilliard\u00a0School.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Alexey\u00a0Shafirov\u00a0is a Montreal-based pianist whose work spans solo performance and collaboration with instrumentalists and singers. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Piano Performance at McGill University under Michael McMahon and has appeared in major venues including Maison symphonique and Salle Pierre-Mercure.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Born in Ulan-Ude, Russia,\u00a0Shafirov\u00a0moved to Israel at the age of six and began his piano studies with Inna Lerner. After five years of deep involvement in software development, he returned to formal musical training, completing piano performance studies at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance before continuing at McGill\u00a0University.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Collaboration with instrumentalists\u00a0remains\u00a0central to his artistic path. A graduate of the McGill\u2013Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al Piano-Vocal Arts Residency, he has worked with leading specialists in vocal music and has collaborated with award-winning artists in Israel and Canada, including Wirth\u00a0Vocal\u00a0Prize winners Sara Schabas (2023) and Zoe McCormick (2025), as well as finalists of major Canadian competitions such as the Golden Violin and the Prix\u00a0d\u2019Europe. A two-time participant of the Franz Schubert Institute in Austria, he has performed for some of the world\u2019s foremost interpreters of the German Lied.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/b><\/span><\/b>Rohan De Silva T<\/strong>hese<\/span> musicians accompany certain competitors, who have chosen to participate in the Concours with their own pianist.<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n * Winner of the John-Newmark Prize for the Best Collaborative Pianist, Concours 2023<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n HOME - CONCOURS 2026<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Carson-Becke-TamPhotography.jpg\")
CARSON BECKE<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Jinhee-Park_400x_v1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Benjamin-Smith_400x_v1.jpg\")
BENJAMIN SMITH<\/b><\/span>
<\/span><\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Sharfirov_Alexey_2026_400-scaled.jpg\")
ALEXEY SHAFIROV<\/span><\/span><\/b>
<\/span><\/p>\n
\nOther<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>pianists<\/span><\/p>\n
Umi Garrett*
<\/span><\/span>Aki Maed
Gaspard Tanguay-Labrosse<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n