Toronto pianist Eric Guo has taken home First Prize at the 2026 Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition. Fellow Torontonian Kevin Wang earned Second Prize.
Eric’s Isabel Overton Bader, Clifford Overton and Françoise Landry Prize win comes with a cash prize of $20,000 CAD, along with future gigs with the Kingston Symphony, and at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts. His recital will be recorded by CBC Music for a national broadcast.
Guo also won The Woodland Wealth Prize for his outstanding performance of a work commissioned by an Indigenous composer, in this case Cris Derksen. He performed the work during the semi-final round, and it adds another $1,000 CAD to his winnings.
Eric Guo, piano
Eric Duo is a native of Toronto, where he began playing the piano at the age of four. He studied at The Glenn Gould School as a recipient of the David and Renette German Scholarship, and earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance (Honours), and is currently studying towards an Artist Diploma.
He’s quickly gaining an international as well as national reputation as a soloist, and has performed with UK’s Royal Philharmonic, {oh!} Orkiestra, Collegium 1704, Bach Collegium Japan, Ural Youth Symphony, Fort Worth, Minnesota, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Ontario Philharmonic, Burlington Symphony Orchestra, Oakville Chamber Orchestra, and Drummondville Orchestra, among others.
In 2023, he won first prize at the 2nd International Chopin Competition on Period Instruments.
Competition & Winners
The Competitions were established at Queen’s University to help support and foster young Canadian classical musicians with an eye towards a professional career.
The theme of this year’s competition looks to the Haudenosaunee tradition of building good relations. The goal was to create a space where musicians from underrepresented groups could participate in all levels of the competition. With that in mind, two special prizes were launched: most outstanding performance of a work by a BIPOC composer; and most outstanding performance of a work by a woman composer.
“The Isabel is excited about promoting this expanded frame of the competition and the potential for an immediate ongoing impact on audiences and talented emerging pianists. It is our intention that `Extending the Rafters’ in these ways will help to open up new pathways of inclusion at the same time as sustaining the highest standards of performance excellence,” said Gordon E. Smith, Director, Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts in a statement.
During the Final Round, the pianists created their own program with works that could include their own compositions, along with works by a BIPOC composer, and/or a work by a woman Canadian composer.
The competition took place between May 6 and 9, 2026 at the Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts at Queen’s University. The six semifinalists were: Lauren Esch, Eric Guo, Linda Ruan, Charissa Vandikas, Kevin Wang, and Naomi Wong.
Results
- First Prize: Eric Guo; The Isabel Overton Bader, Clifford Overton and Françoise Landry Prize ($20,000 CAD)
- Second Prize: Kevin Wang; The Margaret Foster and Katherine Foster Prize ($10,000 CAD)
- Third Prize: Naomi Wong; The Marion Dick Memorial Prize ($5,000 CAD)
- The Bader Family Audience Prize: Kevin Wang; Awarded to the audience favourite, as voted by ballot following the Final Round performances ($1,000 CAD)
- The Woodland Wealth Prize: Eric Guo; For the Outstanding Performance of the Commissioned Work by an Indigenous Composer ($1,000 CAD, Semi-Final Round)
- The Irène Bujara Prize: Naomi Wong; For the Most Outstanding Performance of a Work by a Woman Composer ($1,000 CAD, Preliminary Round)
- The Director’s Prize: Linda Ruan; For the Most Outstanding Performance of a Work by a BIPOC Composer ($1,000 CAD, Preliminary Round)
2026 Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition Jury
The Competition Jury was made up of nationally and internationally recognized musical professionals.
- Louise Bessette (Jury Chair): concert pianist, recording artist, professor at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Member of Order of Canada, Officer of Ordre national du Québec and Knight of the Ordre de Montréal, Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award for Classical Music.
- Lydia Artymiw: soloist and educator, Emerita Distinguished McKnight Professor at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, recipient of top prizes in the 1976 Leventritt and the 1978 Leeds Competitions, studied with Gary Graffman.
- Philip Chiu: concert pianist and broadcaster, soloist, chamber musician, collaborative artist, 2023 JUNO winner for Best Classical Solo Album and inaugural Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer laureate.
- Jane Coop: recitalist and educator, longtime faculty member at the University of British Columbia, member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, founding Artistic Director of the Young Artists’ Experience.
- Cécile Desrosiers: pianist, harpsichordist, pedagogue, Carleton University, founding member of Terzetto, researcher of Women and BIPOC Composers, collaborator with Conservatory Canada to add more than 250 pieces by 60 women and BIPOC composers to the piano syllabus.
- Jarred Dunn: concert pianist and music educator, laureate of the Lithuanian Chopin (Gold Medal), Hoffman, Vitti, Zinetti, and Rome Premio International Competitions, lectures and teaches master classes at Juilliard, co-Artistic Director of Kallmünz Piano Festival.
- Lang-Ning Liu: concert pianist, chamber music specialist, recording artist, professor, faculty of Glenn Gould School and Taylor Academy, passionate advocate for musical education and community outreach.
- Jonathan Mak: winner of the 2023 inaugural Bader & Overton Canadian Piano Competition and the 2024 Concours international de musique de Sorel-Tracey, doctoral student in piano performance at Rice University (Texas), recipient of the Canada Council for the Arts-Michael Measures award, 2025-2026 Rebanks Fellow at the Glenn Gould School.
- Stephen Runge: soloist and educator, Vice-President of the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association, recently appointed to dual role of Dean, Desautels Faculty of Music and Director, School of Art, University of Manitoba.
- Timothy Steeves: professor at Memorial University, partner in the Duo Concertante, recording artist, co-founder and co-artistic director of the Tuckamore Festival, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Congratulations to Eric Guo, and looking forward to hearing about future successes.
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