Melbourne pianist Charlie Wu has been awarded the Grand Prix at the Fifth International Competition for Young Pianists – the Grand Piano Competition in Moscow, sharing the competition’s highest honour with 10-year-old Russian pianist Emir Zakaria.

Wu, a Year 8 student at Caulfield Grammar School, claimed the top award following the competition’s finals at Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, where he performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra. The work is widely regarded as one of the most technically demanding works in the piano repertoire.

Only 15 young pianists from around the world were selected to perform with orchestra in the finals. Eight laureates, including Wu, were invited to perform again at the prize-giving ceremony.

In addition to the shared Grand Prix, Wu received US$8,000 in prize money and a Yamaha grand piano, and has already attracted interest from concert promoters in Europe and China.

Artistic director Denis Matsuev praised the exceptional standard of the competitors.

“When I listen to a talented performance, I do not hide the fact that I and the highly respected members of the jury learn a lot from the participants,” he said. “When I look at them, I realise these are special children, outstanding pianists from completely different schools.”

Wu studies with Glenn Riddle at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and has established himself as one of Australia’s leading young pianists. He made his concerto debut in Moscow in 2024 performing Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Russian State Academic Symphony Orchestra under Ivan Nikiforchin.

Since then he has appeared with orchestras in Australia and Europe, performing concertos by Haydn, Liszt, Beethoven, Mendelssohn and Rachmaninoff. Earlier this year he won the Boroondara Open Concerto Competition after performing Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto with Camerata Orchestra.

The International Competition for Young Pianists is open to pianists aged under 16 on the first day of the competition. It is organisationally separate from Russia’s International Tchaikovsky Competition, which was expelled from World Federation of International Music Competitions in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is, however, supported by Russia’s Ministry of Culture.