Episodes

As the 2026 Toronto International Piano Competition approaches, it's time to open the score on one of its team members! Join Amos Vang as he features Michelle Lau, a pianist, educator, and social media manager of the Toronto International Piano Competition ⁠ @TorontoPianoCompetition ⁠ ! In this episode, Amos and Michelle discuss Michelle's career and pathway from performing pianist to the creation of "The Open Score". Amos and Michelle also discuss the early YouTube days, as well as what to expe...

If you are a classical pianist, then you will know who he is. That's right. Ben Laude, host of Chopin Talk at the Olympics/World Cup of Piano, the 2025 International Chopin Competition, joins the show! Join Amos Vang as he and Ben reminisce on Ben's career, journey through academia, and journey to becoming one of the most recognizable online personalities in the YouTube piano space. More importantly, Amos and Ben discuss various ideas and concepts for the future of classical piano compe...

She is the first Canadian in 25 years to win 1st prize at the Honens International Piano Competition! This is the Legend of Elisabeth Pion. Join Amos Vang as he features the career of Elisabeth Pion, from studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (the same school that trained other talents such as Daniel Craig, Hayley Atwell, Ewan MacGregor, and Damian Lewis) to performing piano and to winning the Canadian Grand Slam of Piano. Elisabeth’s website: https://www.elisabet...

He was a finalist at the Olympics of Piano, the International Chopin Competition. He also won the Robert Schumann International Piano Competition. He also won major awards at the Leeds International Piano Competition and the Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition. He is also a Visiting Artist at MIT. And now, he is Artistic Director of a new Grand Slam of piano, the Toronto International Piano Competition, which takes place on August 14 to 16, 2026. Join Amos Vang as he features t...

In 2025, he competed in 3 Grand Slams of piano. In May of 2025, he won 1st prize at the Dublin International Piano Competition. 5 days after winning Dublin, he competed and became a finalist at the Cliburn International Piano Competition by June of 2025. He accomplished this despite suffering from an injured right arm! 4 months later, in October of 2025, he won 2nd prize at the Honens International Piano Competition. Meet Carter Johnson. From his roots in Campbell River, British Colu...

At age 16, he became a major prize winner at the Olympics of Piano, the International Chopin Competition. To this day, he holds the record as the youngest prize winner in the competition’s history. The great Martha Argerich enjoyed his performance and saw him as one of the next great pianists. This is the Legend of Tony Yike Yang. On Fryderyk Chopin’s birthday, join Amos Vang and Tony Yike Yang as the two pianists reminisce on Tony’s successful Road to Warsaw, his experience meeting Mar...

She almost gave up a piano performing career for med school. Instead, she persisted and won 3rd prize at the Canadian Grand Slam of piano, the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition. This is the Legend of Anastasia Vorotnaya. From studying at the Moscow State Conservatory at age 8, to winning her first international piano competition at age 15, to moving to Madrid at age 17 with no initial fluency of Spanish, Anastasia honed in on her pianistic performance in a life and career of triumph...

She just competed at the 2025 International Chopin Competition. She is also one of Canada’s Top 30 Under 30 Classical Musicians. Meet Victoria Wong, a Canadian classical pianist that is also a prize winner of the Canadian Chopin Competition, Mozarteum Festival Competition, Lancaster International Piano Competition, and Canadian Music Competition. Amos Vang and Victoria Wong discuss Victoria’s Road to Warsaw, both in 2021 and in 2025, as well as her preparation for the Olympics ...

He first sang in his church’s children choir. Then, he sang in the U.S. Army. Then he was discovered for having the deepest human vocal range, the basso profondo. He did not even have his first singing lesson until he was 25 years old! Oktavists are vocalists who sing in the basso profondo range. Oktavists are EXTREMELY rare: at one point, there were only 12 in the entire world! He is one of them. Meet Eric Hollaway, aka thatbassvoice, an oktavist, YouTuber with over 726,000 subscribers...

She just competed at the Olympics of Piano, the 2025 International Chopin Competition. Athena Deng returns to the show to share her experiences! Join Amos Vang and Athena Deng as they revisit Athena’s Road to Warsaw, from her performance at the preliminaries to her 1st round performance, as well as her preparation and mindset going into and after the Competition. Athena also shares the most important lessons that she learned from this experience, and the unique emotions she experienced from p...

He almost got kicked out of school in Iran for playing piano. Then, he and his family fled Iran because of war. After years of tribulation and difficulties, he would become a world-renowned, award-winning composer, with a JUNO Award nomination in 2024. This is the legend of Iman Habibi, an Iranian-Canadian composer who served as the commissioned composer for the recently concluded 2025 Honens International Piano Competition. Even though Honens has concluded, it’s still a great time to hone in...

The semi-finals of the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition begins tomorrow, and as we hone in on the competition, it's time to get the organizational and professional perspectives on the success of Honens! Meet Amanda Smith, CEO and President of Honens! Join Amos Vang as he features Amanda's career and pathway to Honens, along with behind-the-scenes organizational elements of the competition and festival, Honens's unique perspective on musicality and artistry, and the ways in which yo...

The finest instrument is the mind. He showed exactly why, by recording his own brain on music! Meet Nicolas Namoradze (known as “Nico” to friends and colleagues), a pianist, award-winning neuroscientist, and 1st prize winner of the 2018 Honens International Piano Competition. In this episode of This is the Legend Of…, Amos features Nicolas’s unique career, pathway to Honens, and fascinating research after Honens. His most recent research, the “Neurorecital”, records the neural activity of ...

In 2022, at age 21, he became the first Ukrainian pianist and the youngest person to win Honens, aka Canada’s Grand Slam of international piano competitions, in the most cathartic year of recent history. But it almost did not happen. This is the Legend of Illia Ovcharenko. Join Amos Vang as he features the legendary path of Illia Ovcharenko’s piano career, Ukraine’s rich music traditions, Ukraine’s strong educational foundations in music and culture, Illia’s path to winning the Busoni I...

In 1984, he was the first Canadian to win the Leeds International Piano Competition. That same year, he performed for Queen Elizabeth II. 8 years later, he judged the inaugural edition of the Honens International Piano Competition, Canada’s Grand Slam of international piano competitions. Meet Jon Kimura Parker (known as “Jackie” to friends new and old), an award-winning pianist who also serves as the Artistic Director of Honens. In this episode, Jackie and Amos discuss Jackie’s trailbla...

At age 5,he made his professional piano performing debut at Carnegie Hall. Yes, 5 YEARS OLD. At age 11, he performed for a Canadian prime minister. At age 14, he won his first international piano competition. By the age of 16, he won at least 5 international piano competitions, and was the youngest winner of Le Prix Cortot in world history. How old is he right now? 17 YEARS OLD! Not only that, but he will represent Canada on his Road to Warsaw, at the Olympics of piano, the Intern...

If you are a classical pianist, classical musician, or classical music fan, then you know who she is. The late great Arthur Rubinstein described her as a “born Chopin interpreter”. In fact, Arthur Rubinstein was her mentor. She is described as “one of the Grandes Dames of piano playing”. She is also a Juno Award winner. She is an alumna of The Juilliard School. She was the student of Yvonne Hubert, Yvonne Lefebure, and Sascha Gorodnitzki, and she has mastered the French Cortot and th...

"Columbia University professor by day, musical sorceress by night"! - ConcertoNet Meet Magdalena Baczewska, a Polish virtuoso pianist, Director of the joint Columbia-Juilliard Music Performance Program, and judge of the 2025 Canadian Chopin Competition! Born in Katowice, Poland, Magdalena grew up with a deep passion for piano performance from a young age. Throughout her entire career, she has performed with the world's most renowned orchestras such as the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, ...

At 19 years old, she won the CBC National Radio Competition. She has performed at the world’s most renowned concert halls, such as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, and the Bolshoi. She is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia. She is a 3-time Juno Award nominee. She is a jury member of the Canadian Chopin Competition and the Junior Van Cliburn International Competition (for context, if the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw is Wimbledon/the Olympics, t...

At 11 years old, she performed her first major performance with an orchestra. At 12 years old, she won her first international competition. At 22 years old, she won 2nd prize at the Canadian Chopin Competition. And later this year in 2025, Athena Deng will be competing for the greatest piano prize of all at the International Chopin Competition. Join Amos Vang on the first miniseries episode of “The Road to Warsaw” as he features the legend of Athena Deng. Amos and Athena discuss in g...

An excellent composer must have exceptional understanding of the audience’s preferences. In part 2 of the Legend of Aaron Tsang, Amos Vang and Aaron Tsang discuss Aaron’s decision to go to the University of Toronto for music composition, the evolution of Aaron’s musical style, the similarities between composers and lawyers, and the importance of mentorship in the music profession and the legal profession. You may also be surprised at the number of similarities between composers and lawyers...

At 14 years old, his music and films were featured at international film festivals. He’s composed for world-renowned video game and entertainment publishers such as Capcom, DreamWorks Pictures, and Konami. In fact, the intro and outro music that you will hear on this episode was written by Aaron Tsang, specifically for all graduation ceremonies at the University of Toronto. This is the Legend Of… Aaron Tsang, award-winning composer and music professor at the University of Toronto! Jo...

Gone are the days when people had one job. Gone are the days when professions such as lawyers and doctors enjoyed a high level of respect and recognition. Gone are the days when it was believed that a person could only be an expert in one area. Today, it is becoming increasingly important to have expertise in not just one profession, but MANY professions. Ironically, this is a return to the Renaissance’s idea of multifaceted expertise. All of this is thanks to post-professionalism, w...

Lawyer. Professor. Contestant on CBC’s “Canada’s Smartest Person”. Former election candidate for Ottawa City Council and for the Law Society of Ontario. Legal polymath. This is the Legend Of… Rebecca Jaremko Bromwich. Join Amos Vang as he features the trailblazing career of Dr. Bromwich. The two lawyers discuss the inspiration for Dr. Bromwich’s versatile, diverse career across the law and non-law worlds, as well as the most important lessons that Dr. Bromwich learned over the years. ...