Scoring one of classical music's top prizes, Pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko will tour internationally.

CBC News · Posted: Sep 21, 2024 8:54 PM EDT |

A B.C.-born pianist won the Leeds International Piano Competition in the United Kingdom — one of the most prestigious prizes in classical music.

Jaeden Izik-Dzurko took home the top prize, along with a cash award of roughly $54,000, following his final performance at St. George's Hall in Bradford, about 325 kilometres northwest of London, on Saturday.

Izik-Dzurko, who is from Salmon Arm, about 460 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, beat four other finalists with a rendition of Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2, performed with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan. 

After being selected by the jury, Izik-Dzurko called his victory an "indescribable honour."

Izik-Dzurko is a graduate of the Juilliard School in New York and holds a master's degree from the University of British Columbia, where he studied under Corey Hamm. He currently studies with Jacob Leuschner at Germany's Detmold Hochschule für Musik and with Benedetto Lupo at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome.

Just this May, the Canadian pianist won the 2024 Montreal International Music Competition, taking home more than $150,000 in prizes.