Hong Kong pianist Aristo Sham Ching-tao has won the 2025 edition of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, putting him on track for global stardom. Sham, 29, is the first pianist from Hong Kong to win the competition, held in Fort Worth in the US state of Texas. The announcement on June 7 of his victory followed two-and-a-half weeks of intense anticipation as music lovers around the world followed live streams of the contest’s four gruelling rounds, which began on May 21 with 28 competitors from 15 countries. After Sham’s name was read out by jury chairman Paul Lewis to loud cheers in the packed Bass Performance Hall, the winner stepped onto the stage wearing a bow tie and a huge smile to receive his gold medal and trophy. The silver medal went to Vitaly Starikov of Israel and Russia, and the bronze to Evren Ozel of the United States. Sham started on the piano at the age of three with his piano teacher mother at home in Hong Kong and began competing internationally at the age of 10 while attending the Diocesan Boys’ School and studying under Shirley Ip and Professor Eleanor Wong at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. His prodigious talent caught international attention early on, and he was featured by British broadcaster Channel 4 in its 2009 documentary The World’s Greatest Musical Prodigies. He chose subjects other than music when he studied at London’s exclusive Harrow School, before moving to the United States, where he graduated from Harvard University with an economics degree and a Master of Music from the New England Conservatory. He also has an artist diploma from the Juilliard School in New York. As a 29-year-old he was one of the most experienced competitors to enter the Van Cliburn competition, which has an age limit of 30 and is held once every four years. Sham has already toured extensively, playing to critical acclaim with the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor Simon Rattle, the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Edo de Waart and the English Chamber Orchestra with Raymond Leppard, among others. In the final rounds, his musicality and his dapper dress sense helped him stand out from the other five finalists in his interpretations of Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No 1 and Brahms’ Piano Concerto No 2, performed under the baton of Marin Alsop with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. “[ …] Sham has charmed this town with everything from his articulate interviews to his jaunty attire, not to mention his performances in the competition’s early rounds. If he finishes out of the medals, there may be a Texas-size rebellion,” wrote the critic David Wright in the Texas Classical Review before the results were announced. The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was named after the American pianist Van Cliburn. The gold medallist receives a cash prize of US$100,000, international concert tours, a live album recording contract and comprehensive career management support. Korea’s Yunchan Lim became the youngest winner of the competition in 2022, at just 18. In 2017, Rachel Cheung Wai-ching was the first Hong Kong finalist in the Van Cliburn.