The 6 finalists for the Final Stage were at last announced! The 6 pianists who will advance to the final showdown were selected. The heated competition by young pianists will move to the Final Stage.

"The 6 finalists were decided easily as we selected those pianists with the top 6 scores. "

　True to these words, the name of the 6 finalists was announced by Hiroko Nakamura, Chairperson of the Jury, at the scheduled time with almost no delay. At the lobby of the Concert Hall, a venue of the announcement, every time a name was read out, gentle cheers broke out in the lobby. Quite unexpectedly, the announcement proceeded calmly. Probably it was due to the atmosphere that having seen every performer's best efforts on the stage, everyone such as audiences and staff members was ready to happily accept and cheer for any contestant whose name would be read out next. 
　After the announcement, Professor Sergio Perticaroli and Professor Piotr Paleczny, vice chairpersons of the Jury, commented on the performances of stages finished so far.  At the same lobby where the excitement still remained after the announcement of the 6 finalists, with the presence of Professor Hiroko Nakamura, Chairperson of the Jury, and Dame Fanny Waterman, Honorable Vice Chairperson of the Jury, the finalists held a press conference.
　The contestants who made it to the Final Stage were as follows in the order of the performance. Francois Dumont ( France: age 24), Ann Soo-Jung ( South Korea: age 22), Cho Seong-Jin ( South Korea: age 15), Huh Jae-Weon ( South Korea: age 22), Elmar Gasanov ( Russia: age 26), Kim Hyun- Jung( South Korea: age 18).
4 of the 6 finalists were the contestants from South Korea, which is really rare in the history of this competition. The youngest is 15 years old, while the oldest is 26 years old. We will surely listen to a variety of performances from fresh ones to matured ones at the Final Stage scheduled to start on Nov. 21.

Professor Sergio Perticaroli, Vice Chairperson of the Jury
"This is the competition most excellently organized and most generously supported among many other competitions in the world. I listened to your performance as a result of your hard work. I was very happy to have seen your choices of styles, schools and pianos and to have listened to your performances. But at the same time, as my role in this competition, I had to fulfill my job to select qualifiers at the each stage, which was especially difficult in art competitions like this. I think some of you were lucky but some were not. But everyone at the organizer side as well as the contestant side must have an idea to utilize the lessons learned from every new experience in this competition. Going forward, I want those who failed to advance to the Final Stage to practice harder than those who made it. I also want to express my appreciation to audiences who showed up everyday with enthusiasm because your cheers helped create a good atmosphere for the competition. "

Professor Piotr Paleczny, Vice Chairperson of the Jury
"On behalf of the juries, I want to say thank all the contestants for the remarkable performances. For all the pianists, I want you to work harder to prepare yourself because someday time surely will come for to demonstrate your ability. In this respect, I think this competition was the first step for you. What is most important about a competition is not a victory in a battle but an experience you can build. For those students who still have lots of time, I want you to use your valuable time wisely. I have seen many competitions in the world, but I believe this is one of the best organized competition in the world. I think competitions in the rest of the world have many things to learn from Hamamatsu."

" Perform with your full strength and challenge the future"
 Professor Hiroko Nakamura, Chairperson of the Jury

"I would like to thank audiences for your cheers. We juries also could share your enthusiasm for performers. For this competition, we had many applicants from Asian countries already at the first application stage, and such tendency continued on and produced today's results. Especially, 4 South Koreans in total 6 finalists represented the first case in the history of this competition and made a sensational case. 3 of them are students of the pianist, Choong-Mo Kang. This means that great teachers in South Korea are producing many excellent pupils. The Final Stage will provide us the best opportunity where we can enjoy both types of performances, matured ones and young fresh ones. This piano competition historically has produced many excellent pianists who are active internationally. To the finalists, I want you to put all your efforts into your performances in the 2-day Final Stage and challenge the future."

Dame Fanny Waterman, Honorable Vice Chairperson of the Jury
"Juries don’t just listen to your performances but also see many other things of your performances. We listen to sounds that would be played in your future performances. First of all, you have to play faithfully to scores. Next thing is the imagination, something you cannot learn from your teachers. You need to reflect in your music what you want to express. That is exactly what an imagination and an individuality means. It would be the best pianist who will win the competition in the end.  Through your participation in the competition, I want you to expand your repertoires, overcome challenges in front of you, and work hard by looking ahead to the future. "