2025 Heida Hermans
International Music Competition
The 2025 Competition: Piano
Applications Deadline: June 30
Final Round: November 15, 2025
The 2025 Heida Hermanns International Music Competition, hosted by MoCA CT, is for talented pianists ages 18-30 worldwide to compete. We aim to showcase exceptional piano performances and promote music entrepreneurship in musicians. The competition includes an online preliminary round and an in-person final round where participants demonstrate their technical prowess, interpretive skills, and musical expression. It’s a platform for emerging artists to gain recognition and connect with the global music community. 2025 marks the 49th Heida Competition.
The winner receives a cash prize of $20,000; second prize is $10,000, and third prize is $5,000. This year’s prizes are generously sponsored by Norman and Suzanne Sorensen. In addition to a cash prize, the Winner will receive an invitation to perform a solo recital at MoCA CT the following year. Finalists will be provided with transportation accommodations and lodging with a host family for the final round.
Prior winners include celebrated pianists who have gone on to perform in the world’s most important halls, such as Spencer Myer, Frederic Chiu, Josh Wright, Timur Mustikimov, and Yue Chu.
2024 Finalists
Carter Johnson
1st Prize
2nd Prize
Nick Bai
3rd Prize
The Legacy of Heida Hermanns
Heida Hermanns, the founder of the Connecticut Alliance for Music, Inc. (CAM), was a pianist, teacher and philanthropist. She was born in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1906 and received her first piano lessons from her mother. At the age of 15, she enrolled at the Berlin Hochschule fur Musik. Her teachers included Egon Petri, Artur Schnabel, Carl Friedberg and Isabella Vengerova. She made her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic at age 18 and toured Europe as a recitalist and concerto soloist through the 1920s and early 1930s.
Past Winners
2022 Artem Kuznetsov (piano)
2019 Priscila Navarro (piano)
2016 Bryan Murray (baritone)
2015 Wenjie Lu (piano)
2014 Xiao Wang (violin)
2013 Joshua Wright & Timur Mustakimov (piano)
2012 Kathryn Leemhuis (mezzo-soprano)
2011 Yue Chu (piano)
2010 Elizabeth Baldwin (soprano)
2009 Alexei Tartakovski (piano)
2008 Yohan Yi (bass baritone)
2007 Jonathan Yanik (saxophone)
2006 Sangyoung Kim (piano)
2005 Wen-lei Gu (violin)
2004 Elisa Vilbergsdottir (soprano)
2003 Dwight Parry (oboe)
2002 Spencer Myer (piano)
2001 Elena Hirsu (violin); Mary Petro (lyric soprano)
2000 Lluís Rodríguez Salvà (piano); Ashu Kejariwal (saxophone)
1999 Alison Trainer (soprano); Aurelien Sabouret (cello); Valissa Wilwerth (violin)
1998 Juyeon Kang (piano); Patrick Messina (clarinet)
1997 Amit Peled (cello); Younmok Jeong (tenor)
1996 Yi Dong (piano); Otis Murphy, Jr. (saxophone)
1995 Joohee Choi (soprano); Inbal Segev (cello)
1994 Andrew Russo (piano); Mark Timmerman (bassoon)
1993 Janna Baty (soprano); Francois Salque (cello)
1992 Andrew Armstrong (piano); Igor Begelman (clarinet)
1991 Bradley Garvin (bass baritone); Varty Manouelian (violin)
1990 Max Levinson (piano); Viviana Guzman (flute)
1989 Rajan Krishnaswami (cello); Christopheren Nomura (baritone)
1988 Yu-Sheng Ma (piano); Todd Palmer (clarinet)
1987 Alexander Simionescu (violin)
1986 Frederic Chiu (piano)
1985 Timothy McGovern (bassoon)
1984 Sharman Plesner (violin); Jeffrey Jamner (piano)
1983 Boston University Honors Woodwind Quartet
1982 Bart Feller (flute); Claudio Jaffe (cello); Barbara Kilduff (soprano)
1981 Alexander String Quartet Arioso String Chamber Ensemble
1980 Judith Malafronte (mezzo-soprano); John Sharp (cello); Richard Lalli (baritone)
1979 Madison Trio Schmidt-Verdery Duo (flute/guitar)
1978 Nai-Yuan Hu (violin)
1977 Rymour String Quartet Stephanie Conte (soprano); Diane Lesser (oboe); Kurt Nikkanen (violin)
1976 Amina Trio (including Christopher O’Riley, piano)
1975 New England Woodwind Quintet Tibor Szasz (piano)
1974 Laurian Laufman (cello)
1973 Eugene J. Moye, Jr. (cello); Emilia Simonem (soprano)
1972 Emilia Simone (soprano); William Westney (piano).