Our student Élisabeth Pion have just won First Prize (Gold Laureate) and the Audience Choice Award at the Honens International Piano Competition 2025, one of the most important awards for a pianist. With its cash prize of $100,000 CAD and a three-year artistic development program worth over $500,000 CAD, your first place in this competition means international confirmation of your great talent as a pianist. We interviewed her to look behind the scenes and ask what advice she would give to our students, who are set to become the future generation of music professionals.
OUR STUDENT ÉLISABETH PION WINS THE HONENS COMPETITION: READ THE INTERVIEW
The First Prize for the 2025 Honens Competition is a defining moment in your career…
Indeed it certainly is! There are some moments in life when everything seems to be coming together, and Honens was definitely one of these for me. It is also very moving for me to think of all the steps that led to this!
Last year, after doing Montreal International Competition – during which I got a special award, the Bita Cattelan Philanthropic Engagement Award, though I got eliminated after the quarterfinals – I had a call with a formidable woman in New York called Patricia Price, who runs the marvellous PR agency 8va with her husband Matt. I was looking for ways to promote my work, without competitions. She told me that if I got in the top3 of Cliburn or Honens, they would work with me… so I went back to the competition circuit. I made the cut to the 77 pianists who were invited for the live preselection of Cliburn in March, but was not selected further. And then with Honens… well, « the rest is history », as they say!!! I’m really thrilled to now be working with 8VA, Patricia and Matt, as I had dreamed of a year ago!
It has been a journey, that’s for sure. For me, this First Prize represents a very heartwarming validation from people in the arts scene whom I deeply respect. Having received the Audience Award is also extremely meaningful to me, as building a true connection with listeners is of tremendous importance for me, especially since COVID, a moment in time that made me truly appreciate the importance of this connection.
I am also very excited to be working with the Honens team from now onwards. They are truly delightful people and I am confident that we will make wonderful things happen in the next three years. I have a lot of ideas (!) and Honens is a great catalyst and a platform to birth them into the world. Stay tuned, as they say!
At the Academy, you followed advanced courses with Benedetto Lupo for 2 years and now you have been studying with Enrico Pace for the last one and a half. In your opinion, what are the most important things they have taught you?
They have taught me so, so much. I first came to work with Benedetto Lupo as a close friend of mine who had studied with him at Santa Cecilia was speaking very highly of his teaching. I like to go see things for myself, so I went to Accademia – it was brutal, in a very positive way! It was exactly what I needed at the time, and I’m still grateful for it. Lupo is an extremely honest person and I respect how direct he was with me with regards to the gap there was between how I was playing at the time and my actual capacities. He pointed out the road ahead to get to where I wanted, as at this time I was also going more seriously into the competition world (Rio Piano Festival in 2023). He taught me a lot about professionalism and the ethics of being a truly committed artist, of being a thoughtful interpreter who takes great care in reading the score in detail. No amateurism. His teaching still influences me to this day – sometimes when I feel lazy, I hear him in my head and it certainly gives me a kick!
For the last year and a half, I’ve been studying with Enrico Pace at Accademia. I first met him at the Open Chamber Music Seminar at Prussia Cove in 2023, during which I heard him in concert. It was really impactful for me. I immediately recognised him as a great artist and was also drawn to his calm presence and inner joy. He has taught me a lot: about self-trust, self-belief, and self-demand. He, just like Lupo, is extremely honest and when I don’t play at the level I can, or do some bullshit, he doesn’t shy away from pointing it out. Always kindly, but firmly. He’s very demanding and I love that. Sometimes we disagree on certain musical elements, but we discuss and it always leads to interesting and generative dialogues. I also don’t think I’ve ever met in my life someone who has so much energy! The lessons are always very long, with a great sustained quality of presence. I learn so much. We also have long discussions on other topics that go beyond the piano, to the realms of spirituality. He’s very much a mentor and, if I dare say, a friend to me.
When you enrolled at the Accademia, what did you think you would find here? What did you actually find?
I was looking to deepen my craft at the instrument with musicians I deeply respected and looked up to. I have admired the Italian school of playing for a very long time (Tipo, Michelangeli…) and I wanted to come and get more tools to integrate this aesthetic in my own playing. I certainly have found these tools, and keep finding them at the moment with Pace! On top of this, I have found a very supportive environment (the sunshine and fresh food definitely participate in the greatness of the experience!), great colleagues, and a fabulously caring and competent administrative team. It is always a joy for me to be in Pinerolo. You certainly have a piece of my heart!
Have you any advice you would like to give to all other students of the Accademia di Musica?
To trust themselves! I think that’s the most crucial part of an artistic journey. By all means, we have to be informed, get different advice from musicians who value diverse aesthetics, listen to different people, take it all in. But at the end of the day, we are the one who chooses which elements to keep, which ones to discard and which ones to alchemise. We are the transformation center of information, the creator of a point of view – so I would just say, have fun with it and be intelligently creative!
….and also… enjoy the pistachio gelato at Cioccolato Puro in Pinerolo, I can attest it is a great idea to include it in your regimen 🙂
LISTENING
You can listen to Élisabeth playing Mel Bonis, Femmes de légende: Mélisande in this short video dedicated dedicated to the Accademia’s 30 years of activity.
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- PIANO: ALL COURSES >>
- ÉLISABETH PION: SEE MORE >>
