2025 LAUREATES
Three remarkable pianists have emerged from the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition, earning the titles of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Laureate. Over 10 extraordinary days in Calgary, they captivated audiences and jurors alike through performances of insight, imagination, and artistic integrity.
These Laureates embody the Honens ideal of the Complete Artist—one whose voice dares, connects, and carries music into the world. Discover their stories, relive their performances, and celebrate the next generation of pianistic excellence.
2025 Honens Gold Laureate
ÉLISABETH PION
Élisabeth began playing the piano at age five in a household filled with music. She felt an intuitive physical relationship to the keyboard and could play for hours on end. She loved science, literature, and philosophy, but decided at 19 to pursue a career in music.
2025 Honens Silver Laureate
CARTER JOHNSON
There wasn’t a strong musical tradition in the family when Carter Johnson grew up in Campbell River, a small town on Vancouver Island. But with encouragement from his grandmother, his parents enrolled him in piano lessons when he was five and Carter fell in love with making music. By age seven, he knew he wanted to be a concert pianist.
2025 Honens Bronze Laureate
ANASTASIA VOROTNAYA
Anastasia Vorotnaya recalls having a wild and mischievous childhood growing up in a small city east of Moscow. She rollerbladed with abandon, played football with the boys, and loved roaring up and down a keyboard.