Aidan Mikdad was by far the youngest contestant, which makes this this a marvellous achievement in a competition for adult pianists. 

In the final Aidan played Listzt’s First Piano Concerto. The judges were Antonio Di Cristofano, Yuri Bogdanov, Albert Mamriev, Sunhwa Park, Marco Sollini, Saya Sangidorj, Jin Tang, Pierre Van Der Westhuizen and Marco Vincenzi.

The 66 participants hailed from 15 countries, including Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, Spain and Italy. Aidan Mikdad studies with bij Mila Baslawskaja at the Sweelinck Academy, the Conservatorium van Amsterdam’s programme for exceptionally gifted children.