The International Franz Liszt Piano Competition in Utrecht has been held every three years since its inception in 1986 for pianists aged 17 to 29. In 2011, the competition hosted its 25th Jubilee Concert, featuring performances by former winners of the event. 

Performing Liszt’s Les Préludes for 4 hands, Dutch pianist Martyn van den Hoek, who won the competition’s inaugural first prize in 1986, joins pianist Jean Dubé, who won in 2002.

The video of van den Hoek’s and Dubé’s duo performance was recently released in honor of van den Hoek, who passed away in 2022. The concert filmed in the Vredenburg Leidsche Rijn concert hall can be viewed below. 

The 2026 edition of the Franz Liszt Utrecht recently streamed live here on The Violin Channel. First prize with €25,000 went to Alexander Kashpurin, who was also awarded the €2,000 Audience Award. 

 

 

Martyn van den Hoek began his musical studies at the Rotterdam Conservatory before settling in Austria. Among his teachers was Josef Raieff, who was a late student of Alexander Siloti, one of Liszt’s favourite students in Weimar, Germany.

After winning the Liszt Competition Utrecht, van den Hoek continued to give concerts internationally, and from 1986 to 1991, served as a cultural Ambassador for the Port of Rotterdam. From 1998, he also served on the faculty of the Vienna Civic Conservatory. 

Jean Dubé, who won First Prize of the National Conservatory of Paris at the age of 14 under Jacques Rouvier, also studied with Jacqueline Robin, Catherine Collard, Vladimir Krainev, Rudolf Buchbinder, Murray Perahia, and John O'Conor. 

Since his win in Utrecht in 2002, he has recorded 50 CDs, with labels including Syrius, BNL, and Naxos, plus featured in several DVDs of concertos for French television and other international broadcasters. He has also been invited as a jury member for many competitions, including at the Franz Liszt Utrecht 2019.