Christopher Richardson is no stranger to the Chopin Foundation. He first came to our attention when he was awarded a Scholarship through our annual Young Pianists program. Christopher then earned the Best Chopin Prize at the MTNA Senior Piano Competition which we presented at the 2016 MTNA Conference in San Antonio. And most recently, we were very pleased that he was one of 25 pianists selected to participate in 2020 National Chopin Piano Competition in 2020.

For this event, we will enjoy Christopher’s quarter final round performance, including these wonderful pieces by Chopin:

Polonaise-Fantasy in A-Flat Major, Op. 61
Waltz in A-flat Major, Op. 34, No. 1
Ballade No. 1 in G minor, Op. 23
Polonaise in A-flat Major, Op. 53

Christopher Richardson, age twenty two, has received top prizes in numerous national and international piano competitions, including First Prize and Best Chopin Prize at the 2016 MTNA National Competition. He has performed in many venues across the United States, including the 2000-seat Music Tent in Aspen, Carnegie Hall, Finney Chapel, and Benaroya Hall. He also has appeared on NPR's From the Top, TV program PIEon KCTS 9, and King FM 98.1. He presented at the 2015 TEDxYouth@Redmond conference in Washington, and released his debut album, titled Wizard of Oz, in 2019.

Christopher was accepted to the Juilliard School of Music and the Peabody Conservatory under Leon Fleisher, and graduated with honors at UC Berkeley, earning Bachelor's degrees in Biology, Economics, and Music. He is also the blog writer for the Steinway Society of the Bay Area, where he gives his thoughts on various aspects of classical music and performance. Christopher currently is a graduate student at the Thornton School of Music at USC, the University of Southern California, studying with Jeffrey Kahane.