After four days and four finalists, the Kerikeri International Piano Competition came to an end.
The winner was announced on Sunday evening after four finalists performed in front of a full-house at Kerikeri's Turner Centre.
Yeh Shih Hsien, 19, won and now heads home to Singapore with $12,000 in prize money.
Taiwan-born Mr Hsien has been playing the piano since he was 5, has won prizes in many competitions and has worked with a number of renowned pianists. He is currently studying at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.
Mr Hsien and the other finalists, Anna Maksymova who has lived in New Zealand since 2002, James Guan from Sydney, and Szczepan Konczal from Poland, spent almost an hour performing over the course of the competition to secure their place in the final.
The event's organiser John Jackets said the competition has grown over the years, especially now it was an international event.
Mr Jackets said the competition's adjudicator, Mikhail Solovei from Monash University, Melbourne, found it difficult to pick the finalists.
"All these pianists are really good, you don't expect mistakes. It's not like you can say he or she wasn't very good because they kept hitting the wrong notes, you don't really notice that," said Mr Jackets.
The competition included three rounds where 16 contestants had to first play a sonata and then a 30 minute recital. The four who moved into the final round then played a 45-minute recital each.
"It was different to other competitions. Having to play a sonata in the first round is quite troublesome because there is no chance to warm up. Actually when you just have to come out on stage and perform a sonata straight away it is quite tricky and scary. Some classical sonatas are always hard," Mr Hsien said.
The competition also included a concert recital and masterclass with Mikhail Solovei, as well as a junior masterclass with Rae de Lisle.
Mr Jackets said there are real advantages to having the competition in a small town.
"Most people don't understand why we would have such a prestigious competition in a place like Kerikeri but it is partly because of this that it creates its own atmosphere that you wouldn't get in the competition if it was somewhere like Auckland or Sydney."
Mr Jackets said it was encouraging to see New Zealand performers taking the opportunity to play at an international level.
Mr Hsien said the competition was tough.
"You get to see all these different players from around the world, and see how they play so it was actually very exciting."