Fred Pattison Competition Winner 2025
Congratulations to Sophie Huang, winner of the 2024-2025 Fred Pattison Piano Award Competition.
The final, public round of the competition, which included fellow student finalist, second place winner Kevin Tran and third place winner Justin Dulat, took place on January 17. This year's competition was adjudicated by Michael Esch, who also gave a masterclass on January 18.
Huang, who is in Stéphan Sylvestre's piano studio, performed works by Beethoven, Ravel and Chopin in the final round of the competition. Tran, who is in Brett Kingsbury's studio, performed works by Bach and Saint-Saëns, with Dulat, who is in James Hibbard's studio, performed works by Beethoven, Prokofiev and Chopin. View full program.
Proceeds from the Fred Pattison Award Fund support the Fred Pattison Piano Award at the Don Wright Faculty of Music, which is to be awarded to the winner of an annual piano competition. In addition to receiving a cash award, the winner gives a public performance the following academic year. As last year's winner, Kai Melconian - in Angela Park's studio - performed his Winner's Recital on January 16, featuring works by Handel, Boulanger, Schubert, Vierne, Mozetich, Scriabin and Rachmaninoff.
Dr. Pattison was Western University’s former Head of Chemistry (1959-65) Faculty of Science - Western University and Director of Student Health Services (1973-88). He passed away in August 2010. Dr. Pattison had a great passion for the piano and spent many hours enjoying performances in von Kuster Hall at the Faculty of Music. This award reflects his love of music and his desire to reward excellence in piano performance. 2008-09 was the inaugural year for this competition.
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Pictured below (photos provided by Dean Michael Kim)
1 (l-r) Student finalists Sophie Huang, Kevin Tran, Justin Dulat with adjudicator Michael Esch after the Competition
2 Student Justin Dulat (left) with Michael Esch during masterclass
3 (l-r) Piano Division Coordinator professor Kyung Kim, Sophie Huang, Kevin Tran, Dean Michael Kim and Michael Esch
