Right after the announcement of results, the press conference was held by finalists, Mayor of Hamamatsu, Chairperson of Management Committee and the Jury members including Professor Hiroko Nakamura, Chairperson of Jury.

Extraordinary talent witnessed for the first time in many years
Professor Hiroko Nakamura  Chairperson of Jury
"Contestants with different cultural backgrounds and an age range from 13 to 28 gathered here for their performances. Many big international piano competitions often set 32-33 as an upper age limit. But this competition has 28 as an upper age limit but sets no lower age limit. Young pianists are welcomed, even babies would be welcomed if their performance is good (laugh). One of the reasons for setting no lower age limit is that music is the field where talent is developed and matured at a very early age according to the brain physiology. If someone has a talent which is successfully grown under a good environment, the talent sometimes would develop to a sufficiently excellent level even at the age of 12 or 13. This year's competition was a good example of that theory. We witnessed outstanding performances of Korean pianists in this competition. While I was listening to their excellent performances, I was impressed anew with the sophisticated education excellently developed in Korea. I thought the 21 century may be the time when people choose going to Korea for studying music rather than going to Europe.
Cho Seong-Jin, the winner of the first prize, demonstrated a very broad range of expressiveness from pianissimo to fortissimo. He also exhibited an excellent sensitivity too as well as a taste for music. Although he has an exceptional technique, his technique doesn’t go alone. He exhibited the extraordinary talent that was witnessed for the first time in many years. And other contestants also exhibited the excellent performance reflecting their own individuality. I thought it would be wonderful to watch them grow in the coming 10 or 20 years from today after the Hamamatsu Competition. I would like you to continue watching them grow up."

Outcome befitting a role as a gateway to a success of promising young pianists
Yasutomo Suzuki  Mayor of Hamamatsu
With an advantage of being the world-renowned city of musical instruments, we aim to build a city of music. Such activities are centered around the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition. We provide young potentials with an opportunity to display the fruits of their daily practice, contributing to the development of the world music culture and the international exchanges.　The winner of the competition will play in the prizewinners' concerts both within and outside Japan in March and July next year. The city of Hamamatsu will support their future activities as a pianist.　In this competition, 15-year-old Cho Seong-Jin won the first prize, which consequently fulfilled one of our targets of serving as a gateway for promising young pianists.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to all of those who devoted their time and efforts to bring about the success of this competition."   

Your future shall never be restricted by the results
Professor Bin Ebisawa   Chairperson of Management Committee
"I have never seen any competition like this where audiences listened to the contestants' performance with seriousness from such an early stage as the First Stage. Today, November 22 is the feast day of Saint Cecilia, the patroness Saint of musicians, which is celebrated in the Catholic churches throughout the world. Let me share the joy with all of you that we conclude the competition with great success on this significant day. For contestants, I want to say that it has only begun. Your future shall never be restricted by the results. I hope all of you will build further successes in the future. "

Hamamatsu as a pianist Mecca
Professor Arie Vardi  Honorable Vice-Chairperson
"It was the second competition that I visited the Hamamatsu Competition for the first time. When I heard "Hamamatsu", I actually wondered where Hamamatsu was. Hamamatsu has hosted 6 competitions since then, the city has earned recognition as a piano competition venue in the music world, and it is safe to say that Hamamatsu has become a pianist Mecca. What has made this competition different from other international competitions?  I believe the difference comes from the perfect organization that I have never seen before. It is this perfect organization that helps young pianists to demonstrate their ability to the full extent. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to this great organization."

 
Great performance opens the Gates of Heaven
Dame Fanny Waterman  Honorable Vice-Chairperson
"I am extremely pleased to participate in the Hamamatsu Competition as a jury. I have seen more than 100 competitions in the world so far, but the last 2 weeks were unprecedentedly wonderful to me.　Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Schumann……they are now with God in heaven. I believe excellent performances of those great pieces can open the Gates of Heaven, which allows us to see heaven. Politics and religion often divide people, but we are united with music.  I would like to thank all the contestants for the performances with full of individuality and I also want to thank Professor Hiroko Nakamura for her great job accomplished in this competition. I believe it is her creativity that has established this world- largest competition here in Hamamatsu."
 
 
Cho Seong-Jin　(South Korea: age 15)
"I am overjoyed to win the first prize, and I want to thank all the juries. I am now too excited to stand still on the stage. I think I will be fine tomorrow after a good night sleep. When I participated in the Hamamatsu Academy this year, teachers gave me a lot of good advice which I kept in my mind during my performance. I am still 15 years old, but I will practice hard to become a pianist whose performance is enjoyed and repeatedly requested by audiences who would say, "we want to listen to Cho Seong-Jin's performance again".

Elmer Gasanov (Russia: age 26)
"As I didn’t even imagine I would be able to play in the Final Stage in the first place, I am really happy about this result. Winning a prize meant to me that I conquered myself rather than I won the prize.　And I didn’t expect myself to win the Audience Award either, so I am really happy and I feel it is a very significant award. I am from Ukraine and my parents live there. I haven't talked to them yet but I will tell them my happy feeling right after this."  

Huh Jae-Weon (South Korea: age 22)
"When I came to Hamamatsu for the competition on Nov.6, I never imagined I could become a finalist. I enjoyed playing Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto though it was my first performance with an orchestra in front of a large audience. I am really happy to win the 3rd prize. I will continue my practice after going back to Korea."

Francois Dumont (France: age 24)
"I am very pleased that I could come to Japan, participate and come in 4th in this competition. I want to say thank you to all who were involved in this competition including juries, staff members and volunteers. I hope I can come back to Japan someday for concerts or recitals."

Kim Hyun-Jung (South Korea: age 18)
"I had a hard time to go through from the 1st Stage to the Final Stage, but it makes me feel all the more pleased as it has turned into a sweet memory. I also felt honored to play with my 4 friends from Korea in the Final Stage. I will expand my repertoire and hope I can participate in the International Chopin Piano Competition next year. Now I do want to eat Kimchi (Korean pickle) when I go back to Korea after completing all the performances(laugh)!"

Ann Soo-Jung (South Korea: age 22)
"Thank God, Professor  O'Conor, Professor Kang and my parents, I am grateful that I have come to this point thanks to their guidance. I feel a little regret because there was some parts that I feel I could have done better, so I will make further efforts. I will have some time off for about 2 months back home to finish writing my theses. Anyway I will get some rest."

 
Alessandro Taverna (Italy: age 26)
"As soon as I saw the scores by 2 Japanese composers, I felt I wanted to play "Transient Bell for piano" by Composer Gondai. At the exact moment when I placed my fingers on the key board, I sensed the atmosphere of sounds of 3 bells. Because I found it common to the pieces by Messiaen, I thought it fit my repertoire very much. I feel honored to win this wonderful prize." 

Yuhi Ozaki (Japan: age 20)
" I am pleased to win the prize and I think it is quite an encouraging thing. But I still regret that I couldn’t play the Concerto. I will practice hard so that I can play the Concerto in the Final Stage next time. I have been studying in Germany for 2 years so far. I will settle myself down there to concentrate on my study."