Classicalia Finalist 2022

Sibling piano duo from Germany, Sophie and Alexander Wagner have been performing together and winning competitions for several years. The pair started playing piano at age five and currently study with Ilja Scheps. At nine, Alexander performed Mozart’s Piano Concerto no. 20. with the Shanghai Symphonic Orchestra conducted by his grandfather Runyu Hou. As an encore he played Mozart’s Turkish March with his five-year-old sister Sophie, and since then, the children have performed in various international competitions together, returning home with first prizes at: Steinway Piano Competition in Hamburg (2019), German SWR Ensemble Competition, 3rd International Piano Competition Music of the World (Israel), and the International Hamburger Instrumental Competition. The duo holds the honour of being the only children to give a solo concert during the renowned Schleswig Holstein Music Festival in Germany. In 2018 they participated in a television show in Shanghai with Chinese music stars as mentors.