Four New Scholarships Awarded at the “Jugend musiziert” National Competition

The Carl Bechstein Foundation further expanded its talent development program at this year’s “Jugend musiziert” National Competition 2026, awarding scholarships to four outstanding young musicians. Sophie-Elisabeth Wagner, Maximilian Hongcheng Zhu, Narine Valesyan, and Eva Lietz impressed the expert jury with their exceptional piano performances. These exceptionally talented young musicians, who have already impressed with their technical maturity and artistic passion, will receive not only financial support but also long-term backing and performance opportunities to further their musical careers. For more information on the talent development program, please visit the Carl Bechstein Foundation’s website.

Eva Lietz was born in Berlin in 2012 and takes piano lessons from her father, Stefan Lietz. Since 2022, she has been a young student at the Julius Stern Institute at the Berlin University of the Arts. She has achieved numerous successes at “Jugend musiziert” and other national and international competitions, including first prize at the “Young Ludwig” competition in 2023. In addition to receiving several special prizes from the Carl Bechstein Foundation, she regularly performs with her sister Annika. She attends the Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Music High School in Berlin.

Narine Valesyan, born in Armenia in 2012, has been taking piano lessons since she was six years old and has won numerous competitions. Among her most notable awards are first prizes at the state-level “Jugend musiziert” competition (2023, solo piano, 25 points), at the Hamburg Instrumental Competition (with distinction), and at “Jugend musiziert” 2024 in the piano and string instrument duo category (25 points). In 2026, she was awarded a first prize at the national “Jugend musiziert” competition, as well as a scholarship from the Carl Bechstein Foundation.

Sophie-Elizabeth Wagner, born in Bonn in 2013, began playing the piano at the age of five. She has won numerous first prizes at renowned international piano competitions, including the International Piano Competition in Milan, the César Franck Piano Competition in Brussels, the Carl Schröder Competition, the Kronberg International Piano Competition, the Carl Bechstein Piano Competition, the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Szafarnia, and the national “Jugend musiziert” competition. In addition, she has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in numerous European countries, China, and New Zealand.

Maximilian Hongcheng Zhu, born in Mannheim in 2013, has won more than 30 national and international piano and music competitions since 2020. Among his most notable awards are first prizes at the International Béla Bartók Piano Competition (2022), the Feurich International Piano Competition in Vienna (2023), the THÜRMER Piano Competition (2023), the Kronberg International Piano Competition (2025), and the national “Jugend musiziert” competition (2026, with a perfect score of 25 points). In addition, he has received numerous special prizes and has been honored multiple times at the Henle Piano Competition.