by Mike Telin
“This year, we had 190 applicants,” Robert Shannon, director of the Cooper International Piano Competition, said during a recent telephone conversation. “I listened to them all, and I can tell you that the level of playing has never been higher.”
This weekend, the Cooper International Competition will welcome 21 pianists between the ages of 13 and 18 who have advanced through the preliminaries of submitted videos to participate in live rounds in Oberlin’s Warner Concert Hall from July 20 to 23.
The 21, who represent eight countries, are vying for the opportunity to play full concertos in a final round with The Cleveland Orchestra under the direction of Samy Rachid at Severance Music Center on Thursday, July 24 at 7:30 pm — and for the $20,000 first prize. Tickets are available online. Click here to view a complete schedule.
When Utsav Lal first received a performance offer from Piano Cleveland, he was pleasantly surprised. “ I know the bulk of their work involves pretty straight-ahead classical piano and the Competition,” he said in a recent interview. “I do things a little differently, so it’s nice that they’re interested in what I’ve been working on.”
The participants in the Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC) aren’t just expected to perform well — they need to speak articulately about their music making, too. So when the jury sat down with the 2024 contestants for individual interviews, they asked: what’s one project you would like to do?
As the hosts of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, Piano Cleveland spends plenty of time promoting traditional classical repertoire. But their other programming, like the summer festival Piano Days, focus on celebrating the instrument in all its forms.
