by Delaney Meyers
On Thursday, June 7, pianists Ran Dank and Soyeon Lee returned to Cleveland for a dazzling program of solo and duo music, performing as part of the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Mixon Hall. [Read more…]
by Daniel Hathaway
For those who advanced to the semifinal round, the performance order remained the same as in the original draw.
ZIAOXUAN LI
First to play was Ziaoxuan Li (13, China), with a portfolio of pieces by J.S. Bach (Prelude & Fugue in B-flat from WTC I), Robert Schumann (Kinderszenen) and Rodion Shchedrin (“Invention in Two Parts” and “Basso Ostinato” from Polyphonic Notebook).
by Daniel Hathaway
On Friday, May 15 at 7:00 pm Round Two of CIPC’s Young Artists Competition got underway at Baldwin Wallace University’s Gamble Auditorium. The evening featured five talented pianists ranging in ages from 12 to 15.
Yerin Yang (12, South Korea) started things off with impressive technique — and graceful, fluttery runs during the first movement, “Allegro,” of Mozart’s Sonata No. 18 in D Major, K. 576. She exhibited these same musical qualities during the second movement, “La Leggierezza,” of Liszt’s Trois études de concert. Yang showed a nice sense of pace in Shostakovich’s Prelude and Fugue in A Minor, Op. 87, No. 2 and displayed some fine hand-crossing in Schumann’s Abegg Variations, Op. 1.
by Mike Telin
The Second Round Senior Division performances continued on Sunday, May 17 at 10:00 am in Gamble Auditorium.
First up was Nima Mirkhoshhal (17, Germany) who brought to life the creatures who come out at night in Bartók’s “The Night’s Music,” from Out of Doors. Next, during Scriabin’s Etude, Op. 42, No. 5 Mirkhoshhal played with a rich, dark sound, never losing track of the musical line. His interpretation of Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2 in B-flat Minor, Op. 31 was explosive in the best way possible.
by Mike Telin
The Junior Division continued with its second round on Saturday, May 16, at 10:00 am in Gamble Auditorium.
Nina Yifang Hu (14, USA) kicked things off with an engaging performance of Liszt’s “La campanella” from his Grandes études de Paganini, which she followed with a nicely-shaped and well-voiced rendition of Chopin’s Nocturne No. 8 in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2. Hu was in her element during Liebermann’s Gargoyles, Op. 29, playing with sensitivity and wonderful technique.
by Jarrett Hoffman
On Sunday, May 17 at 7:00 pm at Baldwin Wallace University’s Gamble Auditorium, Sean Chen will play the third of four guest recitals at the Cleveland International Piano Competition Young Artists Competition’s newly-formed Institute, to be held concurrently with the ten-day competition. Chen — the winner of the 2013 DeHaan Classical Fellowship of the American Pianists Association and the Crystal Award winner at the 2013 Van Cliburn Competition — will perform works by Brahms, Copland, and Wagner, as well as a set of six etudes by Chopin, Debussy, Scriabin, Bartók, Rachmaninoff, and Ligeti. Tickets are $15.
Chen will begin the program with Brahms’s Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 21, No. 1, a work he also performed for the Cliburn Competition.
by Jarrett Hoffman
“Both the ‘Hammerklavier’ and the ‘White Mass’ are about positive forces in life,” said pianist Alexander Schimpf. “In the end they’re about fighting through something and having a triumphant ending — and both endings are pretty spectacular.”
On Wednesday, May 13, at 10:00 am in Baldwin Wallace University’s Chamber Hall, Alexander Schimpf — the Mixon First Prize Winner at the 2011 CIPC — will present the first master class of the Cleveland International Piano Competition Young Artist Competition’s newly-formed Institute, to be held concurrently with the ten-day competition. Admission is free and open to the public.
Then, on Wednesday, May 20 at 7:00 pm in BW’s Gamble Auditorium, Schimpf will play the final guest recital of the Institute, performing Brahms’s 8 Klavierstücke, Op. 76, Scriabin’s Piano Sonata No. 7, Op. 64 (“White Mass”), and Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 29 in B-flat Major, Op. 106 (“Hammerklavier”).
by Daniel Hathaway
On Tuesday, July 26, twenty-seven young pianists will draw for positions in the 2011 Cleveland International Piano Competition, and begin a ten-day journey which — for the last four pianists left standing — will end with two days of final concerto rounds at Severance Hall with The Cleveland Orchestra followed by the crowning of winners.
The stakes are high: the top award, the Mixon First Prize, comes with $50,000 in cash, a New York debut recital at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, and two years of management services. Second, third and fourth prizes of $25,000, $15,000 and $10,000 will also be awarded at the end of the second Severance Hall round on Saturday, August 6, and there are a slew of boutique awards for excellence in the performance of Baroque, contemporary, American and Russian music, and the compositions of Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart. The audience gets to vote as well: an audience prize will be given to the popular favorite in the final round, and the junior jury chooses its own prize winner. [Read more…]