Photo: NCC
Each year the National Concerto Competition finals are held in Christchurch where three finalists under the age of 25 perform a concerto of their choice with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. The annual event began in 1968 and alternates each year between keyboard and other instruments.
This year's piano finalists were:
Shan Liu, first place
Henry Meng, second place
Otis Prescott-Mason, third place
Shan Liu, a 15-year-old pianist and Year 11 student at Westlake Boys High School, is rapidly emerging as one of the most promising talents in classical music under the guidance of renowned educator Stephen De Pledge.
Shan's performances have graced renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, the Sydney Opera House, and Auckland Town Hall. His solo recital at the 2022 Beethoven Orbit Festival in Aachen, Germany, garnered widespread acclaim for his technical brilliance and emotive interpretation.
Henry Meng is a New Zealand pianist and composer studying at the University of Auckland, where he is mentored by Rae de Lisle and Stephen de Pledge. As a pianist, he has performed with the Auckland Philharmonia and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, he won second place in New Zealand's National Concerto Competition, with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto. In 2024, he was a performance partner with clarinettist Julian Bliss; his recitals have taken him from Auckland Town Hall to Carnegie Hall.
Otis Prescott-Mason is a pianist from Wellington and a current classical performance student at Victoria University of Wellington's New Zealand School of Music. He currently studies under Dr. Jian Liu.
Otis has seen many successes in national competitions: In 2022 he was awarded 1st prize, Best Performance of a Classical Sonata, and the Audience Choice Award at the Lewis Eady National Piano Competition. In the same year he was awarded 1st prize at the PACANZ National Piano Competition. Otis was also awarded 1st prize at the 2020 New Zealand Junior Piano Competition.
Hear Otis Prescott-Mason talking with Bryan Crump on RNZ Concert's Three to Seven:
Producer & Engineer: David Houston
Assistant Engineer: Alex Harmer
