Scholarship Recipients 2025

Laetitia Hahn

Laetitia Hahn (*2003) is pursuing her master’s degree at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, studying under Professors Elena Levit and Bernd Goetzke. She began playing the piano at the age of two. At four, she started school and gave her first solo concert on both violin and piano at the age of six. In 2012, she became a junior student in piano and performed at the award ceremony of the International Mendelssohn Prize for former German President Dr. Richard von Weizsäcker at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. She made her solo and orchestral debut at the age of ten. At eleven, she toured Europe with a demanding Liszt program and performed with Chinese pianist Lang Lang in Munich and on Chinese state television, reaching an audience of 81 million viewers.

Hahn is a multiple award winner of national and international piano and composition competitions. She was named one of the “People of 2014” by the Aachener Zeitung, selected as a “Music Ambassador” by the Lang Lang Foundation, later appointed ambassador for the “Belgian National Orchestra,” and received the “Honorary Prize of the City of Rietberg.” She completed her high school diploma at the age of fourteen. At fifteen, she made her debut as a conductor with the Alion Baltic Symphony Orchestra and premiered her first original Peace Piano Concerto No. 1 with Radio Moldova, which was broadcast live to an audience of 1.2 million listeners.

Hahn is actively involved in peace and charity events such as the 2022 BR Sternstunden Gala and the Ronald McDonald Gala in Vienna, and supports orphans in Thailand and Romania. From 2021 to 2024, she served as artistic co-director of the Peace Gala in Rietberg. Hahn has performed in prestigious concert halls around the world and collaborated with renowned orchestras, including the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Orchestra/Peter Sanderling, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic, the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, and the Ukrainian State Orchestra/Volodymyr Sirenko.

In June 2023, she completed her Bachelor of Arts in Music at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, Belgium. Laetitia teaches masterclasses and serves as a juror at various competitions, including “Jugend musiziert.” She is currently co-authoring three books with her brother Philip Amadeus Hahn, which are set to be published in 2025.

Somin Lee

South Korean pianist Somin Lee, born in 1999, received her first musical training at the Matthias-Grünewald-Gymnasium in Würzburg under Professor Silke-Thora Matthies. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, studying with Till Engel and Kai Schumacher. Since 2023, she has been continuing her education in the master’s program at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media under Professor Bernd Goetzke.

Somin Lee is the recipient of numerous competition awards, including First Prize at the Köhler-Osbahr Competition, Second Prize at the 2025 International Piano Competition of the Chopin Society Hanover, and the Dr. Alfred Hoff Special Prize as part of the Folkwang Prize.

She made her solo debut in 2012 with the Seoul String Orchestra. Since then, concert invitations have led to performances at the Elim Art Center, the “Extraschicht” festival in Bochum, and the renowned concert series “Great Piano Music” in Essen. In 2021, she appeared once again at the Elim Art Center as part of the “Young Artist Piano Recital” series.

Chia-Yang Hsu

Chia-Yang Hsu, born in 1999 in Taiwan, received his musical education at the Xiamen Music School and is currently studying at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg under Professor Stepan Simonian. Numerous national and international awards attest to his artistic excellence. Most recently, he won Second Prize as well as two special prizes at the 11th International Liszt Piano Competition in Weimar-Bayreuth. He was also selected as one of eight finalists for the International Liszt Piano Competition 2026 in Utrecht, Netherlands.

His concert activities have taken him to many countries, including China, Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Bulgaria, and the United Arab Emirates. At the age of 14, he made his debut as a soloist with the Xiamen Youth Orchestra and has since performed with renowned ensembles such as the North German Philharmonic, the Kaliningrad Symphony Orchestra, and the Staatskapelle Weimar.

Chia-Yang Hsu is a scholarship recipient of the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation Germany and the Miratone Foundation Hungary.

Yinqi Wang

Yinqi Wang, born in 2008 in Baoding (China), received comprehensive piano training from an early age. She is a multiple prizewinner at international competitions, including First Prize at the International Mozart Competition in Zhuhai, as well as awards at the Shenzhen Piano Competition, the Chopin Competition in Szafarnia (Poland), and the Tel-Hai Competition (Israel).

At the age of eleven, she made her solo debut in Beijing. Since then, she has performed regularly as a soloist and opened the Children’s Piano Competition in Poland in 2021. She has appeared as a soloist with the Shenzhen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, and the Brescia Festival Orchestra in Italy. Most recently, her debut CD was released by the Spanish label KNS.

Yinqi Wang is currently a junior student in the class of Anna Malikova at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

Ke Xu

Ke Xu, born in 1997 in Lanxi (China), began playing the piano at the age of five. After receiving her education at the affiliated middle school of the Shenyang Conservatory, she continued her studies in Germany and completed her bachelor’s degree in 2020 at the University of Music Freiburg under Professor Alfonso Gómez. She then earned her master’s degree at the University of Music and Dance Cologne, studying with Professor Dr. Florence Millet. She is currently enrolled in the concert exam program at the University of Music Mainz with Professor Sae-Nal Lea Kim, as well as in the master’s program in song interpretation at the University of Music and Dance Cologne with Professor Stefan Irmer.

Ke Xu is a prizewinner at numerous competitions, including the 6th International Piano Competition “Città di Caraglio” (3rd Prize, 2015), the 2nd Piano Competition of the Mainz University of Music (2nd Prize and Special Prize, 2023), and the Steinway Advancement Award Frankfurt (1st Prize, 2023). In addition, she was awarded the Cultural Sponsorship Prize of the Rotary Club Mainz-Churmeyntz in 2023. Her concert and festival performances have taken her to events such as the “8 Bridges Festival” in Cologne and the “ECHO Project: ECHI da Montepulciano” in Italy.