Bruce Xiao Liu won the Soap Award | A difference that causes a ripple effect in Quebec

Charles Richard-Hemelin, who lives in Montreal and won second prize at the 2015 Warsaw competition, says pianists from the Quebec metropolitan area will definitely attract more attention as a result of this high difference.

“We’re on a roll – something is going on in Montreal,” the 32-year-old musician said in an interview from his home in the metropolis.

“It simply came to our notice then, but it’s a success for our companies here. We were both fully trained in Montreal, ”he said.

Bruce Xiao Liu, 24, was named recipient of the € 40,000 (CA $ 57,500) award on Thursday, which immediately elevates his status in the music community and acknowledges that he has sent concerts to countries around the world.

“The second prize is a big deal to change my life, so I can only imagine what happens to Bruce,” said Charles Richard-Hamelin.

There is an eight-year age difference between the two pianists, but Charles Richard-Hamelin says he has known Bruce Seou Liu for some time. They faced each other twice, he said, as Liu won the first time and Richard-Hamel won the second time.

He pointed out that they had lost touch a little bit and were impressed by his progress when they saw him in the match.

He talked about one of the most impressive pianists I have ever seen.

Bruce Xiao Liu, who was born in Paris before moving to Canada, is a graduate of the Montreal Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Richard Raymond during his youth.

The two first met when Liu then asked a teenager, Richard Raymond, to study privately under his guidance.

He said he had told Richard Raymond Liu that he could not accept such responsibility because the conservatory was already full of teaching assignments. Yet in the days that followed, Liu on the piano said he couldn’t get the “amazing” control he showed at a young age around his head.

Richard Raymond recalled, “I told myself to bring this guy.

“So I contacted him again and persuaded him to come to school, and that’s how it started.”

Liu later studied at the University of Montreal, where he worked with Tang Thai Son, who won the first prize in the 1980s soap opera.

Richard Raymond said he could not wait to hug him when Liu returned to Montreal and would share a few words about his outstanding achievement.

“Sometimes you teach very talented kids, but you never know how far they’re going to go,” he said.

“But in this case it worked, so when it happens, we should celebrate.”