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Robert Beardsley Piano Prize Competition Finals
The 2025 Robert B. Beardsley Memorial Piano Prize Competition took place on Saturday, September 20, 2025 in the Ruthmere Game Room.
FINALISTS:
Ye-Eun Hyun, Michigan State University
Mijeong Lee, Grand Valley State University (Michigan)
Takeshi Nagayasu, University of Michigan
Pun Punyasavatsut, University of Michigan
James Wilson, Brigham Young University (Utah)
Sean Yang, Rice University (Texas)
The WINNER of the 2025 Robert B. Beardsley Memorial Piano Prize Competition
~Sean Yang~
Born and raised in Memphis, Sean Terada Yang has accumulated a vast performance track record in recent years through solo, concerto, and chamber engagements. After studying piano and neuroscience at Vanderbilt University, Sean earned his Masters’ degrees in performance and chamber music at the University of Michigan. In those two years, Sean earned top prizes at the National Federation of Music Clubs, Seattle International, Frances Walton, Memphis International, and Chautauqua SAI
Concerto Competitions. This fall, Sean began his DMA studies at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music after a summer schedule with performances in Berlin (GER), Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Oregon, New York, and Massachusetts. He has had the privilege of studying piano with Logan Skelton, Amy I-Lin Cheng, Amy Dorfman, and Jon Kimura Parker, and he also conducts research on human movement and biomechanics at the MIT.nano Immersion Lab under the mentorship of Praneeth Namburi and Mi-Eun Kim.
2nd PLACE: Ye-Eun Hyun
| 3rd PLACE: Pun Punyasavatsut
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Congratulations to all of our finalists! Thank you to everyone who participated in the competition - we had a record turnout for participants this year.
Sponsor for the 2025 Robert Beardsley Piano Prize Competition
Doug Beardsley
And the Winner Is...
Past Beardsley Competition Winners
2017 - Nicholas Roth
2018 - Nicholas Susi
2019 - Yixiang Hou
2020 - Hyeseon Jin
2021 - Daniel Lin
2022 - Chi Hoi "Jimmy" Cheung
2023 - Pablo Valladares
2024 - Nayeon Kim
About the Beardsley Cup
The Beardsley Cup, composed of sterling silver and manufactured in 1907 in London, resides in a new custom built display case with the names of the winners of the Beardsley Competition. The inaugural recipient in 2017, Nicholas Roth, was named in recognition of his long devotion to Ruthmere and its Fall Concert Series. Subsequent competition winners’ names are added annually to the display, enhancing the lore of piano performances at Ruthmere. Please contact Ruthmere Museum at (574) 264-0330 ext. 107 if you have any questions regarding the competition or the entry requirements.
