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From the President

I am pleased to advise that I only have good news to report. After 30 years, everything for the 2008 Competition is moving well ahead of schedule.

I must say that it sill amazes me to know that in November 2006, a presenter of concerts called our office to ask about Prize-Winners performing after the 2008 Competition. This resulted in information being sent to many presenters and within twenty minutes of them being sent, the first response was received and confirmed. It took a very short time before there were 50 concerts confirmed for the First Prize-Winner, People’s Choice Prize-Winner and the Third Winner.

I do not think there is any other Competition that can boast such a series of concerts that cover such a large area involving all state and territory capitals, as well as many regional centres. This is certainly a wonderful result after 35 years of working in developing the Competition.

Once again, ABC Classic FM will bring the whole Competition live to all parts of Australia, to New Zealand and to the world via the Internet. ABC-TV will also be involved with the Competition.

We feel very confident that we will have an even finer selection of the world’s young pianists to participate in the 2008 Competition. I am sure that no one will be disappointed with the 2008 Competition, which is now only 11 months away.

Claire Dan
AM, OBE

What they are doing now

Arta Arnicane is very pleased that a Scottish Lord and his wife, Lord and Lady Munn, presented her with a Yamaha C3 Piano. She has been giving concerts in Scotland and Copenhagen and she has a busy schedule for 2008/9. In 2006 she graduated from the Latvian Academy of Music and is now a Post-Graduate student there. In May 2007 she was semi-finalist in the Queen Elizabeth Piano Competition and performed the Mozart Piano Concerto KV 595 in B Flat Major with the orchestra for the Queen Elizabeth Competition. She also gives chamber music concerts with her sister – principal viola in the Gulbenkian Symphony Orchestra in Lisbon. On July 1st, they took part in the opening recital for the London Master Classes, which are organised by Norma Fisher. She has recently been recording in Latvia, for CD works by Rachmaninov, Beethoven, Ravel and Chopin. In August, she took part in Master-Classes with Prof. Arie Vardi in Germany.

Alexey Yemtsov had great success with the Australian Youth Orchestra, after preparing the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninov in 3 weeks, to a full house at the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House on the 15th July 2007.
A booked artist was unable to be in Perth for two concerts on 20th and 21st July 2007 and Alexey was asked to perform the Rachmaninov Paganini Variations with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Simone Young. He accepted the engagement at one day’s notice and the concerts were a great success.
In 2008, he will have performances with the Queensland Orchestra (Rimsky-Korsakov Concerto) and with the West Australian Orchestra (Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2), as well as a number of recitals including the Final Recital of the 2008 Tyalgum Festival.

In August 2007, John Chen performed the Roger Smalley Piano Concerto No 2 (he gave the world-premiere of this concerto with the Sydney Youth Orchestra in 2006) and the Bartòk Piano Concerto No 1 on the same program, with the Queensland Orchestra. Immediately after this, he then travelled to Canberra to perform the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No 2 with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Milton. In April 2008, he will perform the Beethoven Piano Concerto No 5 with the Jena Orchestra conducted by Nicholas Milton and also three recitals in the Bochum Festival at (1) Villa Teresa, Coswig in Sachsen, (2) Haus Opherdicke, Unna and (3) Thürmer-Saal, Bochum.

Before coming to Sydney in 2004, Ayano Shimada was the 1st Prize-Winner at the Jean Francaix International Competition in 2001 and also the 1st Prize-Winner at the 2003 Trani International Piano Competition in Italy.

Her first CD of works by Debussy, Dutilleux and Ravel was released in 2006 and received critical acclaim.

Ayano has had quite a busy time this year – Salle Cortot in Paris in January, Boulogne in February (Duo Recital) and Tochigi, Japan in February also. In March, a recital in Hamamatsu followed by a recital with a cellist in Eglise Saint Merry in Paris in April.
July in Kanagawa, Japan and performing the Opening Concert of the Euro Music Festival at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and recitals in Leogang, Austria and in August, Bernkastel and Bad Birnbach, Germany.
In October, she will perform in Hiroshima, Tokyo, Osaka and Hamamatsu, Japan.

Jayson Gillham was the winner of the John Allison City of Sydney Piano Scholarship for pianists aged between 16 to 25 years valued at $ 10,000. The Finals of the Competition were held in the Workshop at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music before an enthusiastic audience. The other finalists were John Fisher, Samuel Dharma and Oliver She.

Jayson will travel to England in September 2007 to continue his studies at the Royal College of Music with Christopher Elton.

Jayson has recently released his first CD recording, “Etudes de Concert” which contains Symphonic Etudes by Schumann and the Twelve Etudes Op 10 by Chopin.
This recording is available from the website:
www.jaysongillham.com/etudes.html

Spencer Meyer recently won Third Prize at the William Kapell International Competition in Maryland. He also has debuts with the Santa Fe and New Haven Symphonies, recitals in Connecticut and New York City and concerts in Nebraska and North Carolina with the soprano, Nicole Cabell - the winner of the 2005 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

Prof Peter Sculthorpe, Artistic Patron of the Friends of SIPCA, with
Mr Ron Ogden at the Lecture given for the Friends at Hunt & Hunt in June, 2007

Daniel de Borah’s 2007 Tour

You will be able to hear Daniel de Borah (formerly Hill) at the following venues:

September

Sun 9	Recital with a singer Andrew Goodwin – Hunters Hill Town Hall at 2.30pm
Wed 12	Recital Busselton Uniting Church at 8.00pm
Fri 14	Recital Peninsula Music Club at Loquat Valley School Hall at 8.00pm
Sat 15	Recital Villa Strachanus (via Berry) at 2.30pm
Sun 16	Recital St Bernard’s Catholic Church Bateman’s Bay at 5.00pm
Wed 19	Recital Roseville Music Club St Luke’s Presbyterian Church, Roseville at 8.00pm
Sun 23	Concerto Central Coast Symphony Orchestra at Laycott Theatre, Gosford at 3.00pm
Mon 24	Recital Canberra Grammar School at 7.30pm
Sat 29	Recital Murray Conservatorium of Music Albury at 8.00pm
Sun 30	Recital Riverina Conservatorium of Music Wagga Wagga at 3.00pm

October

Mon 1	Recital Killara Music Club - Ravenswood Centenary Hall, Gordon at 8.00pm
Wed 3	Recital Friends SIPCA Australian Galleries, Paddington at 8.00pm

30th Anniversaries - SIPCA and Friends

The first Sydney International Piano Competition was held from 16 July to 4 August, 1977 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Stages I – IV), the Sydney Opera House (Stage V) and the Sydney Town Hall (Presentation of Prizes and Recitals by the six Finalists). It is interesting to note that the dates for the 2008 Competition are almost identical as in 1977.

The Official Competition Program for 1977 makes no mention of Friends of the Competition, although there were many Conservatorium Staff and Members of the public who were of considerable support in the running of the Competition.

The 1981 Official Competition Program states the following: “…a group of people who saw the need to promote the ideals of excellence as fostered by the Competition. They also thought that the Competition was of such importance that a continuing interest should be maintained between Competitions.” Many of the people who had assisted in 1977 were amongst those who became founding members of the Friends of the Sydney International Piano Competition. Although the formalities of establishing the Friends with a specific Constitution did not take place until 1978, it can be argued that the Friends began in 1977.

The Members of the Friends Committee in 1978 were:

Patron:	Jill Wran
President:	Bronwyn Bishop
Vice Presidents:	Peter Sculthorpe OBE and Elayne Mills
Secretary:	Stephanie Medcalf
Treasurer:	Sheila Prior
Publicity:	Margaret Carter and Elizabeth Jeffrey
Executive Committee:	Dr. Lew Abbott and Fiorella de Boos-Smith
Council:	Amina Belgiorno-Nettis, Carol Grace, Perpetua Hobcroft, Josephine Jacoby, Anne Landa, Joan Levy, Dr. Amy McGrath, Donald McDonald, Ross Steele, Dr. Paolo Totaro, Lady Turbott and Beth Wells

Forthcoming Events

• Piano recital by Daniel de Borah on Wednesday 3rd October 2007 at 8.00pm at The Australian Galleries, 15 Roylston Street, Paddington. His program for this recital will be:
Sonata KV 310 in a minor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
4 Impromptus Op 66 in c sharp minor, Op 21 in A Flat Major,
Op 36 in F Sharp Major, Op 51 in G Flat Major Frédéric Chopin
Scherzo No 4 Op 54 Frédéric Chopin
INTERVAL
10 Pieces from Romeo and Juliet Op 75 Sergei Prokofiev
2 Êtudes Op 2 Nos 3 & 4 Sergei Prokofiev

• Friends’ Christmas Function on Thursday 13th December 2007, 6.00pm at the Goethe Institut, 90 Ocean Street, Woollahra

After Jayson Gillham’s recital - Jayson with
Douglas Agnew and Judy Hunt

Competition News

Mark in your diaries the 15th and 16th March, 2008 to hear the Australian Auditions at The Scots College, Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill. The venue is the Coote Auditorium in the Centenary Building. Sydney will be the last of the 12 cities where auditions will be held. The other cities are: *Naples, Vienna, Hamburg, Paris, Moscow, London, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, *Beijing and *Shanghai.
The cities marked with an asterisk are auditions centres for the first time.

The invitation for the Australian Auditions will be sent out in December 2007 and the schedule of the auditions will be known at that time.

Friends' Audition Tour 2008

The exciting tour planned for 2008 to China will include the auditions for the 2008 Competition in Beijing and Shanghai. This will be the first time auditions have been held in these two cities. In addition, there will be visits to many historical and exciting sites in and around these two cities. There are already 16 confirmed bookings. To find out more about this tour, click here which will provide a link to Renaissance Tours with the details of the tour and a booking form.

Left: Beijing’s Forbidden City

Right: Shanghai’s Bund by night

An update from Sofitel Wentworth Sydney

A word from one of the partners of the Sydney International Piano Competition

Sofitel Wentworth Sydney is entering an exciting new phase of its 41-year history as it unveils the beautiful new Bistro Garden Court and Club Sofitel on Level 5. The restaurant offers a relaxed garden setting overlooking the Garden Courtyard and provides a unique setting of an urban oasis amidst the bustling city.

The restaurant offers an inviting, bright conservatory feel with clean lines, stylish new furniture, a private dining room behind rich drapery and a vibrant open kitchen. Circular forms, lush foliage and curved lines bring the outside in and creates a light, bright and fashionable area for any occasion. The heritage Greek motif from the Garden Courtyard outside is replicated inside with classic black and white floor inlays, giving cohesion, rhythm and a unique European style to the interiors.

The new menu features modern contemporary cuisine with a French influence that combines a tradition of cooking high quality produce chosen according to the season. The dining experience will be enhanced by a specially designed list of premium and local international wines.

October is Good Food Month in Sydney and Sofitel Wentworth Sydney is offering Sugar Hit, a delectable dessert plate of Lenôtre desserts, Cinque Stella Coffee Cake and delicious fresh fruits. The Sugar Hit dessert plate is complemented with a glass of Hennessy Cognac. As a proud partner of Sydney International Piano Competition, Sofitel Wentworth Sydney would like to invite you to enjoy the Sugar Hit in the Garden Court at $20 per person.

Friends' Events for 2008

• Australian Auditions for 2008 Competition, 15 and 16 March, 2008 at the Coote Auditorium , The Scots College, Victoria Road, Bellevue Hill.

• Friends’ AGM, 11th April, 2008, 11am at Hunt & Hunt Lawyers, Level 13, The Gateway, 1 Macquarie Place, Sydney.

• Piano Recital by one or two resident Australian pianists selected for the 2008 Competition. 3pm, 18th May, 2008 at The Australian Galleries, 15 Roylston Street, Paddington.

• Piano Recital by the People’s Choice winner of the 2008 Competition, presented in association with the Goethe Institut Sydney, 8pm, 15th August, 2008 at the Goethe Institut, 90 Ocean Street, Woollahra.

• Young Musicians’ Recital at the home of Ray Wilson, 69 Bellevue Road, Bellevue Hill, 3pm, 12th October, 2008.

• Friends’ Christmas Party, 6pm, 11th December, 2008 at the Goethe Institut, 90 Ocean Street, Woollahra.

Invitations to these functions will be enclosed with forthcoming Newsletters.