Ryan Huang, age 15 (Canada/United States) — First Prize Junior Division and Audience Prize
ClevelandClassical.com: Thank you for taking the time to talk, and congratulations on the win and the audience prize. How did it feel when you realized that you had won?
Ryan Huang: When I heard the second place’s name announced I knew I had won and I couldn’t believe it. I was very surprised. Not because I didn’t think I played well, it’s because everybody here is just very talented, and I have such incredible peers as musicians, so it’s a very happy surprise to have won. To have my name be called as the first prize was a feeling of delight.
CC.com: I enjoyed listening to all of your pieces, and you had some very interesting repertoire for the solo round. How did you come to choose the Chaconne and that arrangement of Firebird?
RH: I went to the Gina Bachauer International Competition before this one, so I prepared a lot of other pieces, and I figured I should probably choose pieces from that pool to add to this competition. And I figured that these two pieces would work really well together.
Obviously, you have to put the Chaconne first because there’s no way I’m starting with the Firebird and ending with the Chaconne, that doesn’t make sense. But I think going from the Chaconne to the Firebird is very effective.
CC.com: Did you get nervous?
RH: I think you have to. I think it’s normal if you do a little bit. If you don’t get nervous, that’s the weird part. But I’m not so nervous that I can’t function on stage.
CC.com: The chamber music round with the Mendelssohn was wonderful. Did you enjoy working with Max and Jinjoo?
RH: Yeah. They’re amazing musicians, and I felt great collaborating with them.
CC.com: Do you play a lot of chamber music?
RH: Not a lot, but I’ve played, for example, this Mendelssohn before. I would say I play a decent amount of chamber music.
CC.com: And how was the master class round for you?
RH: I was very nervous because this is a very new thing to me, and I was the first to play. And because it’s new, nobody’s sure exactly how it’s going to go. But I think it turned out well. I think I played decently — the Debussy Images “Reflects dans l’eau.” And Jean-Yves Thibaudet is an incredible musician.
CC.com: He gave a lot of great feedback.
RH: I just treated it like a normal master class. I felt like that helped with nerves and helped me take away a lot more from the class.
CC.com: And for the Grieg Concerto, again, you had to go first. How much rehearsal did you have with the orchestra?
RH: Twice. The day before, and then a dress rehearsal.
CC.com: What a famous opening. Why did you choose that concerto?
RH: Because I like it and I’ve played it before, so I’m pretty familiar with it. It didn’t need that much work to get back into my fingers. But in general, I feel like it was one of the concertos on this list that I could do the most with. And I think I did pretty well with it, especially the cadenza.
CC.com: It’s a long cadenza.
RH: It is, and very powerful.
CC.com: The coordination between you and the Orchestra was quite good.
RH: I really enjoyed playing with them. I played with a lot before and I would say I’m pretty good at coordinating all the endings with orchestra and just being together in general.
CC.com: And you were with the orchestra at the end. It’s always nice to have the chords be together, not before and not after.
RH: That passage at the end is very hard to nail perfectly.
CC.com: But you did it.
RH: I did.
CC.com: Did you see the little cards they made for everyone?
RH: I did, I have one for myself.
CC.com: I was really taken by your musical fact where it says that Rachmaninoff 2 is the inspiration the song All By Myself.
RH: Yeah.
CC.com: Do you know the Cleveland connection to that?
RH: I believe his aunt was part of the Cleveland Orchestra.
CC.com: She was a violist and Eric Carmen was born and raised here.
RH: I didn’t pick that fact on purpose because it was Cleveland. I only found out about that after, but it is interesting.
CC.com: What do you think of the song? And does he do the concerto justice?
RH: I think so. I enjoy all different genres of music. I think any genre that takes from a masterpiece like this is already sort of elevated. But I actually enjoy the Celine Dion version more. I just feel like she has a very powerful voice.
CC.com: And your favorite composer is Liszt?
RH: I feel like he’s a bit misunderstood. People think of him as a pyromaniac, but I think he’s not completely devoid of musicality. I think it’s quite the opposite. His music is very interesting. If you want a real pyrotechnic on the piano, it’d be Alkan. But with Liszt, there’s a lot of emotion there that I think people just kind of overlook.
CC.com: What’s your favorite Liszt piece to play? You didn’t perform any Liszt.
RH: No, I haven’t touched Liszt in a while. But in general, he’s my favorite composer. To listen to, there’s the Sonata, the Ballade — a lot of things. To play, my favorite one I’ve ever done is maybe the Rigoletto paraphrases or the Tarantella.
CC.com: I want to know more about your appointment as the Ambassador of Oakville, Ontario.
RH: I’m very honored to be the Ambassador of Oakville. That’s my hometown, so it’s very special to me to be acknowledged as the Ambassador of Music for Oakville. I recently had a concert there with the Oakville Symphony Orchestra. I think it went well. I really enjoyed it. The mayor was there. A lot of people were there and I think they enjoyed it as well. It feels very good to share music with my community.
CC.com: Ryan, thank you very much for taking the time to talk. We appreciate it very much, and hopefully we’ll speak again in the future.
RH: Thank you very much, and it’s a pleasure to meet you.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com August 5, 2026
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