Portland Piano International Presents Eric Lu in Recital, November 16

Fresh from competing at the 2025 Chopin Competition in Warsaw, the 27-year-old Leeds Competition winner makes his long-awaited PPI debut with an all-Romantic program featuring Schumann, Schubert, and Chopin.

Sunday, November 16, 2025 • 4:00 PM
PSU's Lincoln Performance Hall

PORTLAND, OR — Portland Piano International (PPI) presents Eric Lu in his long-awaited PPI debut on Sunday, November 16 at 4 PM, Lincoln Performance Hall (at Portland State University), just weeks after the pianist competes in the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Originally scheduled to perform with PPI in May 2024, Lu was forced to postpone due to a hand injury. Now fully recovered, Lu was one of 40 pianists selected to advance from the first round of the Warsaw competition held in October. His Portland recital brings repertoire and momentum from Warsaw's international spotlight directly to Pacific Northwest audiences who have been waiting over a year to experience his artistry.

Lu's 2018 victory at the Leeds International Piano Competition—the first American to win since Murray Perahia in 1972—established him as a major international artist. At 27, he brings the interpretive insights and momentum from Warsaw directly to Portland audiences.

The Portland recital offers audiences repertoire Lu has mastered through recent intensive focus. The program opens with Robert Schumann's Arabeske, op. 18, followed by Franz Schubert's Four Impromptus, op. posth. 142, D. 935—works Lu recorded for Warner Classics in 2025 as part of his complete Schubert Impromptus project, bringing studio-perfected interpretations to the concert stage. His 2022 Schubert Sonatas album earned BBC Music Magazine's Instrumental Choice and critical praise for confirming "Lu's place among today's Schubertians." After intermission, audiences will hear Frédéric Chopin's Polonaise in B-flat Major, op. 71, no. 2 and Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, op. 58—the same Chopin repertoire Lu performed under international scrutiny in Warsaw, now shared in the intimate setting of Lincoln Performance Hall.

Lu's PPI debut is part of a November tour that brings him to West Coast venues including Steinway Society Bay Area in Cupertino on November 15, followed by an East Coast engagement at Boston Conservatory at Berklee on November 18. While this marks his first PPI appearance, Lu has established Pacific Northwest connections through performances with Seattle Symphony and Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, where he gave a February 2024 recital and masterclass. His broader regional presence includes multiple appearances at Cal Performances Berkeley and San Francisco Symphony.

The American pianist studied at Curtis Institute with Robert McDonald and Jonathan Biss, receiving mentorship from Mitsuko Uchida and Imogen Cooper. He holds designation as a 2021 Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient and exclusive Warner Classics recording artist since 2019. He has appeared for seven consecutive years at both Wigmore Hall and Warsaw's "Chopin and his Europe Festival," maintaining sustained relationships with elite venues while collaborating with Chicago Symphony, London Symphony, Boston Symphony, and Los Angeles Philharmonic under conductors including Riccardo Muti, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, and Marin Alsop.

This is your chance to experience what The Guardian calls "a veritable poet of the keyboard" in a rare Pacific Northwest appearance. Audiences will hear an artist returning from international competition with fresh interpretive insights, sharing both the established mastery that has captivated audiences at Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall, and the heightened artistry forged under Warsaw's competitive scrutiny. After waiting over a year for this rescheduled performance, Portland audiences can finally witness Lu's long-awaited debut.

Eric Lu, Program

Robert Schumann
Arabeske, op. 18

Franz Schubert
Four Impromptus, op. posth. 142, D. 935

No. 1 in F Minor
No. 2 in A-flat Major
No. 3 in B-flat Major
No. 4 in F Minor

INTERMISSION

Frédéric Chopin
Polonaise in B-flat Major, op. 71, no. 2
Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, op. 58

I. Allegro maestoso
II. Scherzo: Molto vivace
III. Largo
IV. Finale

Tickets & Information: portlandpiano.org/eric-lu
Venue: Lincoln Performance Hall, Portland State University, Portland, OR
Date/Time: Sunday, November 16, 2025 • 4:00 PM

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PORTLAND PIANO INTERNATIONAL has presented more than 220 artists in recital and through outreach activities. Some of the greatest pianists in the world of music have played for Portland audiences because of this organization. While pianists have many opportunities to play the concerto repertoire, this is one of only a handful of recital series that remains devoted to the solo piano recital. Portland Piano International is a vital part of Portland's quality cultural life and it has consistently garnered praise from both the local and national media, heralded a "consistently brilliant Piano Recital Series" (Willamette Week) and "one of this city's musical treasures" (The Oregonian).