I
am dedicating this post to a special group of Filipinos and
Filipino-Americans who had been once encouraged or bullied to take piano
lessons during their childhood years, but pursued other careers and now
successful in their non-musical chosen fields of profession, but still
loves classical piano music. I belong to this group.
The
Chopin Competition is one of the most prestigious competitions in
classical music, often launching the careers of its winners overnight
through major concert dates and lucrative recording contracts. It is
held every 5 years in Warsaw, Poland attracting hundreds of contestants
all over the world. This year because of the Pandemic, the 2020
competition was held just the other day. My congratulations to all the
Winners.
Here's the write-up from the Associated Press dated October 20, 2021 on this year winners.
Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu was named the winner of the 18th Frederic Chopin competition in Warsaw
Competition high this year
A Canadian has won one of the world's most prestigious piano competitions.
The jury of the 18th Frederic Chopin international piano competition chose Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu of Canada as the winner of the 40,000-euro ($57,000 Cdn) first prize in the 18th Frederic Chopin international piano competition that often launches pianists' world careers.
The announcement came just hours after Liu played as the last entrant among the 12 finalists, performing Chopin's concerto in E minor, opus 11 with the orchestra at the packed National Philharmonic in Warsaw. His performance was met with huge applause.
Liu is from Montreal. He graduated with great distinction from the Conservatoire de Montréal, where he studied with Richard Raymond, and later studied at the Université de Montréal, working with Dang Thai Son.
"Oh my God. I don't know what to say, honestly," Liu said soon after learning he won.
"We have been dreaming with all these people here for this prestigious stage," the 24-year-old said.
"Being able to play Chopin in Warsaw is one of the best things you can imagine, of course, so I'm truly honoured for this award, of course, and for this jury's trust and for all the warmth I have received in recent days," Liu said.
Liu performing his Winning Piece with full orchestraSecond
prize and 30,000 euros ($43,000 Cdn) went to Alexander Gadjiev,
representing Italy and Slovenia and to Kyohei Sorita of Japan, while the
third prize of 20,000 euros ($28,000 Cdn) was awarded to Martin Garcia
Garcia of Spain. There were other winners in several categories.
High ranking in the renowned competition opens the world's top concert halls to the pianists and pave the way to recordings with best known record companies.
Jury head Katarzyna Popowa-Zydron has said that apart from being excellent pianists, the participants should also show sensitivity and bring freshness to the music.
"I try to look for a rapport between the performer and Chopin," Popowa-Zydron said in an interview early in the competition.
Music is a "message from a person and [the musicians] should know what kind of person Chopin was."
Bowing to their artistry, the 17-member jury allowed two more finalists this year than usual.
Observers noted that the level of the competition was very high this year and said it's difficult to pick a favorite to win.
Chopin, Poland's best known and beloved classical music composer and pianist, was born in 1810 in Zelazowa Wola near Warsaw to a Polish mother and a French father. He left Poland at 19 to broaden his musical education in Vienna and then in Paris, where he settled, composing, giving concerts and teaching the piano.
Chopin died on Oct. 17, 1849, in Paris
and is buried at the Pere Lachaise cemetery. His heart is at the Holy
Cross Church in Warsaw. For details read:
For list of other popular piano competitions read:
http://www.pianocompetitions.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment