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 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 Berman 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.
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.
The Competition Jury was made up of nationally and internationally recognized musical professionals.
Congratulations to Eric Guo, and looking forward to hearing about future successes.
Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.
