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I have only good news for you. When the 2008 Competition comes to an end, we already have planned almost 60 concerts to be given by Prize-winners in all states of Australia, including quite a number of country towns. Now that the Auditions have been completed, I am very pleased to say that we have an excellent list of pianists to perform in the Competition. I have heard from Warren Thomson how difficult the Judging Panels in each of the cities that the Auditions were held, to select only the very finest pianists. In New York, a music critic from the New York Times stated that without exception all of the pianists who had performed in the Auditions in New York were professional and how difficult it was to select only the finest of these pianists. With this information, we can certainly look forward to a really outstanding Competition commencing on 16th July with the Opening Concert being given by the 2004 First Prize-Winner, John Chen. I look forward to seeing you at the Seymour Centre and the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. Claire Dan AM, OBE |
1985 First Prize-Winner Du Ning Wu and his wife Helen Sim were First Prize-Winners in 2004 in the 4th Grieg International Piano Competition in two Sections (a) Piano Four Hands and (b) Two Pianos.
Martina Filjak has had success in several recent competitions. In July, First Prize at the “Bartok-Prokofiev Kabalevsky” Competition and also First Prize in the IBLA Piano Competition which provides her with a Carnegie Hall debut and a USA tour in 2008.
John Chen has had successful Concerto appearances with the Queensland Orchestra with Roger Smalley’s Piano Concerto No 2 and the Bartók Piano Concerto No 2 on the same program (31 August, 2007) and with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Nicholas Milton, and two performances of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No 2 (5 and 6 September 2007). On the 31st October, 2007, he featured soloist with the Australian Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, performing the complete No 1 favourite Concerto in the Competition conducted by ABC Classic FM, Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto (Piano Concerto No. 5).
Duncan Gifford has been quite busy with concerts as well as his weekly commuting to Palma on Majorca where he holds a Professorship in the Conservatory. He has recently performed with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra in Prague. He has also performed the Bartók Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion in Palma and has given a solo recital in Madrid.
In January, 2008 Alexey Yemstov entered the UNISA International Piano Competition in Pretoria South Africa. He was awarded the following Prizes: 1. Second Prize, 2. Best performance of a Mozart Sonata, 3. Audience Prize 4. Best performance of the South African work, 5. Best performance of the Finals Concerto, equal with the First Prizewinner. The total prize money was AUD24,000. Alexey was soloist with the SSO conducted by Matthew Kourey at the Superbowl in early March playing the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninov. More recently, Alexey gave two performances of the Rimsky Korsakov Piano Concerto with the Queensland Orchestra.
At the 2007 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow Alexander Lubiantzev was awarded the 3rd Prize.
The level of performances by pianists that have undertaken live auditions in Naples, Vienna, Hamburg, Paris, Moscow, London, New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Sydney has been very high. The judging panels in each city have had a very difficult task in selecting the 36 pianists who will be invited to participate in the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition. A Reserve List has also been provided.
Sunday 15th June, 2008
Sofitel Wentworth has a proud standing as Sydney’s Hotel of the Arts and as part of our commitment, we support many significant arts organisations including Sydney International Piano Competition, Art Gallery of NSW, Museum of Contemporary Art and the upcoming Biennale of Sydney 2008.