NEWSLETTER
The Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia
and the
Friends of The Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia

Editor: Daniel Mitterdorfer
September 2008


From the President | What they are doing now | 2008 Competition CDs | 2008 Prize-winners Tours
ABC Classic FM's contribution to the 2008 Competition | Ups and Downs - a new book from Claire Dan
2008 Competition Prize-winners

From the President



 I am very pleased that my book Ups and Downs which is about my life was printed and available to the public to purchase during the Competition itself. There is an order form to purchase a copy of the book enclosed with this Newsletter.

We had a really wonderful Competition this year and it is just amazing how much the technical skills of the competitors have improved over the past 30 years. This is similar to the incredible improvements we see in so many different sports as were evident in the Beijing Olympics. A number of the records that had stood for many years were broken with what seemed to be apparent ease.

ABC Classics will be issuing the first set of four CDs of solo performances in mid-October this year. In 2004, there was a set of three solo performances on CDs and this year it was difficult to limit the selection to only four CDs as overall there were many stars with the standard being so high. This high standard can also be seen when we look at the list of the 2008 Prize-winners – a total of 14 competitors were recipients of prizes or encouragement awards.

Overall the Competition was most enjoyable and I am very happy to have such a dedicated and reliable Jury who were hand-picked by me from the beginning. They not only worked hard but enjoyed their time with the Competition and in addition, their stay in Sydney.


Claire Dan
AM, OBE

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What they are doing now

Since moving to Sydney in 2005, Brenda Jones has enjoyed becoming an active member of the city’s musical community. She has chosen to specialize in collaborative piano and is frequently a recital partner with string players from the ACO and the SSO. She is a founding member of the Whiteley Trio, with violinist Sun Yi and cellist Patrick Murphy. Their debut CD will be launched in October and features the Ravel and Mendelssohn d minor trios. Brenda also enjoys working with young people in the capacity of teaching, coaching, and adjudicating at various competitions and eisteddfods around Sydney.

Recent performances by Jayson Gillham have been: Sat 30th August – Solo recital in Montville, 3rd September – Solo recital in Queensland Performance Arts Centre, Brisbane, 6th September – Performance at Theme & Variations Brisbane.

John Chen has recently performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and is undertaking a tour with the violonist Feng Ning for Musica Viva.

Alexander Gavrylyuk will perform and record the compelete Prokofiev Concerti with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy in November 2009. Forthcoming concerts in February are performances at the Concertgebouw Hall Amsterdam with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Pletnov, with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra (Grieg) and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra (Prokofiev Piano Concerto No 2). In April with the Warsaw Philharmonic (Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 2), in May Vancouver Symphony (Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No 2), in June Netherlands Philharmonic (Liszt Piano Concerto No 1), in June and July Concerto Tour around Japan, in July Chautauqua Institution in New York, in August Menton Festival and Duszinki Festival in Poland and in October a tour in Mexico (TBC).

Eric Zuber is going back to Peabody for the second year of his Artist Diploma and will then most likely head to Juilliard next year to begin a Master’s Degree. At present he doesn’t have any management or many concerts, and as he is trying to formulate a sustainable career doing this, hopefully it will change in the future.

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2008 Competition CDs

ABC Classics will be issuing four solo CDs of performances from the 2008 Competition. The CDs will be available from mid-October 2008. It is expected that other CDs will be issued some time soon after this.

The four CDs will contain performances of competitors who were awarded a prize for the Best Performance of a Composer’s Works.

CD One – works from the Baroque and the Classical period. This CD will contain works by Bach, Scarlatti, Mozart and Haydn.

CD Two – works from the Romantic, 20th and 21st Centuries. This CD will contain works by Chopin, Liszt, Andrew Ford, Roger Smalley, Shostakovich, Menotti, Taneyev, Prokofiev and Kapustin.

CD Three – sonatas and virtuoso works. This CD will contain works by Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, Ravel and Liszt.

CD Four will contain shorter works exploring the virtuoso element and transcriptions by the composers including Schumann/Liszt, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, Debussy, Boulez, Poulenc, Stravinsky, Strauss/Schulz-Evler, Paganini/Brahms and Wagner/Liszt.


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2008 Prize-winners Tours

By the time you receive this Newsletter, the Competition Prize-Winners Tours concerts will be almost over. The last concert is on the 30th September. We have had quite a number of letters expressing how wonderful the performances have been and we will include quotes from some of these in the next Newsletter.


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ABC Classic FM’s contribution to the 2008 Competition

The ABC Classic FM Team: Back row (L - R) Andre Shrimski (producer); Owen Chambers (producer); Gerard Willems (specialist commentator); Wayne Chapman (features editor); Kevin Klehr (video producer). Front row (L - R) Christian Huff-Johnston (sound engineer); Damien Beaumont (presenter); Marian Arnold (presenter); Yossi Gabbay (sound engineer). Photo courtesy ABC Classic FM.
ABC Classic FM provided to listeners throughout Australia and New Zealand and to the world approximately 90 hours of piano performances which covered every note that was performed by the competitors in all stages of the Competition. During the Competition the ABC’s Competition website received over one million hits, with 25% being from overseas. They also received comments by email from many countries, including the USA, UK and European countries, in particular. Most of these communications expressed appreciation to those who made the broadcasts available to such a wide cross-section of the world population. Many overseas listeners commented on the very high standard of the Competitors.


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Ups and Downs - a new book from Claire Dan

Many of the Friends of the Competition may have seen this book –an autobiography of the Competition Founder, Miss Claire Dan, AM, OBE. This book, which has three hundred pages and includes a variety of photos from her scrapbook that cover many years of her life, is now available to the Friends of the Competition and others for $25.00 (softcover) or $30.00 (hardcover) plus packaging and postage $8.00 making a total of $33 or $38, depending on which cover you choose.

An order form is enclosed with this Newsletter for those wishing to purchase this book.

All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia.


First Prize-winner Konstantin Shamray on stage in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall during
the Prize-winners Recitals, 2nd August, 2008.
Photo: David Anderson
Third Prize-winner Ran Dank performing in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall during
the Prize-winners Recitals, 2nd August, 2008.
Photo: David Anderson
Second Prize-winner Tatiana Kolesova performing with the Wollongong Symphony Orchestra at Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul on 23rd August, 2008. Photo: Daina Lemanis.
Fourth Prize-winner Takashi Sato (top) and Sixth Prizewinner Eric Zuber (bottom) on stage in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall during the Prize-winners Recitals, 2nd August, 2008. Photos: David Anderson
Fifth Prize-winner Tomoki Kitamura on stage in the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall during the Prize-winners Recitals, 2nd August, 2008.
Photo: David Anderson




2008 Competition Prize-winners

The list of Prize-Winners with the donors of prizes follows. It could be noted that of the 35 competitors who participated in the Competition, 14 were recipients of Prizes or Encouragement Awards.

$25,000 1st Prize - Konstantin Shamray - Donated by Council of the City of Sydney
ABC Classics Prize – The winner will make a CD recording in 2010
Naxos Prize – the winner will make a CD recording in 2009
$12,000 2nd Prize - Tatiana Kolesova - Donated by Yamaha Music Australia Pty Limited
$6,000 3rd Prize - Ran Dank - Donated by Theme & Variations
$4,000 4th Prize - Takashi Sato - Donated by Mr Phillip Rowe
$2,500 5th Prize - Tomoki Kitamura - Donated by Hunt & Hunt
$2,500 6th Prize - Eric Zuber - Donated by Mr Neville Grace

Special Prizes

$10,000 Konstantin Shamray - The Australian String Quartet will engage a Major Prize Winner of the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia to perform with the Quartet as guest artist for its National Subscription Season tour in May 2009, consisting of 12 concerts.

$7,000 Eric Zuber - Prize for the best performance of a work by Liszt (excluding Studies in Stage I) donated by Mr Neville Grace. In addition, a sculpture is presented by Graham Wickes in memory of Australian pianist Dennis Hennig.

$5,000 Hoang Pham - Prize for the best Australian pianist donated by the Friends of the Sydney International Piano Competition.

$5,000 Tomoki Kitamura - Prize for the best performance of an Australian work in Stage III, donated by Australian Performing Right Association.

$5,000 Konstantin Shamray - Prize for the best performance of a Mozart Concerto donated anon. in memory of Andrew Wolf.

$5,000 Konstantin Shamray - People’s Choice Prize donated by Hochtief.

$5,000 Konstantin Shamray - Prize for the best performance of a 19th or 20th century Concerto donated by Mr Peter Weiss AM.

$5,000 Konstantin Shamray - Prize for the best performance of a work by Beethoven donated by Kawai Australia.

$5,000 Takashi Sato - Prize for the best performance of a work by Chopin “The Gloria and Ronald Ogden Memorial Prize” donated by Ron, Lynn and Marcus Ogden.

$5,000 Charlie Albright - Prize for the best performance of a Study by Liszt in Stage I donated by Mr. David Burns.

$5,000 Ran Dank - The musicians of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will vote for the Prize, donated by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for best overall performer of the two Concertos.

$5,000 Ran Dank - Prize for the best performance of a work by Rachmaninov donated by Mr Ray Wilson OAM in memory of Mr James Agapitos OAM.

$5,000 Tatiana Kolesova - Prize for the best Chamber Music Performance donated by Mr Robert Albert AM.

$3,000 Konstantin Shamray - Prize for the best performance of a work by Mozart (excluding Concertos) donated by Mr & Mrs J Bain.

$3,000 Tomoki Kitamura - Prize for the best performance of a work by Schubert donated by The Hon. Bronwyn Bishop MP.

$3,000 Ran Dank - Prize for the best performance of a Debussy Prelude in Stage II donated by Mr Danny May.

$3,000 Tatiana Kolesova - Prize for the best performance of a work by a Russian composer in Stages I-IV of the Competition donated by Dr Sonya Bajenov.

$2,000 Alexey Yemtsov - “The Paul & Helena Haas Encouragement Award” – given after the Quarter Finals to a pianist not selected for the Semi Finals donated by Music and Opera Trust Ltd.

$2,000 Yoonsoo Rhee - Prize for the best overall performance of a work from the Romantic Period in Stages I-IV of the Competition donated by Mrs Jana Chvojka.

$2,000 Yoonsoo Rhee - Prize for the best performance of a sonata by Haydn in Stage III donated by Mrs Deidre McCann.

$1,500 Feng Zhang - Encouragement Award given after Stage II for a pianist not selected for the Quarter Finals, donated by the Victorian Friends of the Competition.

$1,500 Daniil Tsvetkov - Prize for the best performance of the Virtuoso Study in Stage I - “The Lev Vlassenko Memorial Prize” donated by the Tyalgum Festival, NSW.

$1,500 Mariangela Vacatello - Encouragement Award given after Stage IV for a pianist not selected for the Finals donated by the Music Teachers’ Association of NSW.

$1,500 Tomoki Kitamura - Prize for the youngest Finalist, donated by Ars Musica Australis.

$1,000 Tatiana Kolesova - Prize in Memory of Pnina Salzman for the Best Female Competitor in the Competition, donated by Barbara Leser.

$1,000 Hoang Pham - Encouragement Award for the Youngest Australian Pianist in the Competition, donated by Manly Music Club in memory of Mrs Vaila Mead

The six Semi-Finalists not selected for the Finals each received an award of $750, donated by Mrs Wendy Weight OAM - Hoang Pham, Miyeon Lee, Daniil Tsvetkov, Yoonsoo Rhee, Mariangela Vacatello, Charlie Albright.

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