Belgian pianist Valère Burnon advances to the final of the Queen Elisabeth Competition

The jury of Belgium’s prestigious Queen Elisabeth Competition (QEC) announced the names of the 12 finalists following the last performances by the 22 piano semi-finalists at Flagey on Saturday.

The talented rising musicians remaining in the international competition include the Belgian pianist Valère Burnon. The 26-year-old from Marche-en-Famenne in Luxembourg province studied in Liège and Cologne before becoming a student in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel (QEMC). 

The finalists (pictured above) will now spend a week sequestered at the QEMC in Waterloo, where they can prepare for the final round in tranquil surroundings. This period at the chapel is akin to a retreat as the young musicians will have no contact with the outside world. Abandoning all digital devices, including smartphones, they will focus on the arduous task ahead.

As well as rehearsing their prepared pieces, the pianists need to carefully prepare the intense competition’s imposed new work, which will be handed to them as they enter the music school. This year it is a piece by Belgian composer Kris Defoort called  Music for the Heart.

“Seeping in from nothingness, starting from silence, improvisation forms the very first seed,” says the QEC of the work. “Playing with rhythmic timbres, meaning gradually appears, a musical core that Defoort deepens, analyses and allows to grow in endless variations day after day,” it adds, describing the piece as a “balanced composition” with the “heart” as the central musical motif.

The marathon competition then moves to Bozar for the final rounds from 26 to 31 May, with two of the finalists performing per day with the Brussels Philharmonic, conducted by Kazushi Ono. They will each play a concerto of their own choice as well as the new work by Defoort. 

After the final performance on 31 May, the ranking of the laureates will be announced around midnight. The jury is presided by Gilles Ledure and includes the following international musical experts: Imogen Cooper, François-Frederic Guy, Daejin Kim, Momo Kodama, Denis Kozhukhin, Steven Osborne, Jorge Luis Prats, Laura Mikkola, Anne Queffélec, Tamara Stefanovich, Jean-Claude Vanden Eynden, Anna Vinnitskaya, Boyan Vodenitcharov and Lilya Zilberstein.

Although the final concerts of the piano competition are sold out, the public can follow all of the musical action via live coverage by public TV and radio stations, including La Trois, VRT CANVAS, Musiq3, Klara, Auvio and VRT MAX.

Following the final, a series of recitals featuring these six winners will be staged at Bozar and concert halls around the country.

As one of the most demanding and highly publicised international competitions, the Queen Elisabeth Competition has served as a springboard for young violinists, pianists, singers and cellists since it was founded in 1937.

The finalists are:

Rachel Breen (United States, 1996)
Valère Burnon (Belgium, 1998)
Arthur Hinnewinkel (France, 2000)
Wataru Hisasue (Japan, 1994)
Mirabelle Kajenjeri (France, 1998)
Masaya Kamei (Japan 2001)
Shiori Kuwahara (Japan, 1995)
Nikola Meeuwsen (Netherlands, 2002)
Nathalia Milstein (France, 1995)
Jiaxin Min (China, 1996)
Sergey Tanin (Russia, 1995)
Yuki Yoshimi (Japan, 2000)

Photos: Valère Burnon ©Alexandre de Terwangne; Finalists 2025 ©Thomas Léonard; Brussels Philharmonic & Kazushi Ono ©Wouter Van Vaerenbergh