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ChamberFest Cleveland & Piano Cleveland partnership brings James (Zijian) Wei back to town

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by Mike Telin

Not only did James (Zijian) Wei win First Prize at the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition, he also won four special prizes, one of which was the ChamberFest Cleveland Prize. That prize was awarded for the first time during the 2024 CIPC and was the result of a new partnership between Piano Cleveland and ChamberFest Cleveland.

How did that partnership come about? “Yaron Kohlberg is one of my old friends from Israel, and ChamberFest has been wanting to collaborate with the Piano Competition for a long time,” pianist and ChamberFest co-artistic director Roman Rabinovich said during a Zoom conversation.

“We’re always exploring opportunities to bring our winners back to Cleveland and create partnerships with local organizations,” Piano Cleveland artistic director Yaron Kohlberg said by phone, “and ChamberFest is a natural fit.” [Read more…]

CIPC Finalists share their thoughts on the 2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition

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by Mike Telin & Daniel Hathaway

“I’m so happy. It’s very nice that all the work has been recognized and appreciated.” — Giuseppe Guarrera (32, Italy), fourth prize.

“It’s amazing. Honestly, when I came to the competition I had zero expectations for what was going to happen.” — Maxim Lando (21, USA), third prize.

“It feels really great.” — Evren Ozel (25, USA), second prize.

“It’s a dream come true.” — James (Zijian) Wei (25, China), first prize.

On Sunday afternoon following the concerto round with The Cleveland Orchestra on Friday and Saturday, we had the opportunity to meet with the four finalists in the atrium of the Cleveland Museum of Art to get their impressions about the innovations in this year’s Cleveland International Piano Competition, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and how it felt to be a prizewinner.

In an interview with this publication, Piano Cleveland president Yaron Kohlberg said that “A lot has changed in the classical music world during the past 50 years,” and that this year’s competition is all about creating more and better ways for it to serve the contestants, and the audience. [Read more…]

CIPC Finals zero in on top four pianists at Severance (Aug. 9-10)

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by  Daniel Hathaway

By the time that Evren Ozel, Maxim Lando, Zijian Wei, and Giuseppe Guarrera played concertos with conductor Ruth Reinhardt and The Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Music Center last weekend, their places in the winners’ circle of the Cleveland International Piano Competition were already determined.

It only remained to be revealed which of the generous cash prizes (ranging from $75,000 to $10,000) they would take home.

Given the quality of the competitors’ playing to this point, the jury had some tough choices to make. [Read more…]

CIPC Quarter-Finalists show their musical personalities

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by Mike Telin & Daniel Hathaway

Relieved of some of the customary competition repertory requirements, the sixteen pianists who played in the five CIPC Quarter-Final Rounds this week were pretty much given carte blanche to share their musical personalities with the jury and audience through their own choice of repertory.

This change made for the most interesting programming to be heard to date at the Cleveland competition. Over the five sessions, no piece was played twice.

Those of us who have been following CIPC for years probably rejoiced at not hearing multiple performances of the Chopin “Winter Wind” etude, or sitting through three performances of the same lengthy Schumann work in a single evening. [Read more…]

The Concert Truck brings CIPC talent to Edgewater Beach (July 23)

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by Stephanie Manning

’Tis the season for outdoor concerts, and after a beautifully mild weather pattern swept in last weekend, this may be one of the best weeks this year to enjoy them. In other words: July 23 was the perfect day for a concert on the beach.

To be fair, the Concert Truck wasn’t actually on the sand at Edgewater Beach, but it was close — parked right outside the Beach House and facing the water. Beachgoers and locals gathered on a bright sunny day for the lunchtime concert, presented by the Cleveland International Piano Competition. [Read more…]

Cleveland International Piano Competition: 50 years on, the future is grand

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by Mike Telin

What began in 1975 as the Casadesus International Piano Competition has gone on to become a premier event in the piano competition world. This year marks the 50th anniversary of what is now the Cleveland International Piano Competition. And so the 2024 edition has taken on a new look and a renewed purpose.

“A lot has changed in the classical music world during the past 50 years,” CIPC president Yaron Kohlberg said during a recent Zoom call, adding that this year’s competition is all about creating more and better ways for it to serve the contestants, the audience, and the community at large. [Read more…]

2024 Cleveland International Piano Competition announces sixteen quarterfinalists

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by Daniel Hathaway

On April 23, Piano Cleveland, host of the Cleveland International Piano Competition, released the names of the sixteen quarterfinalists who will compete in the 2024 contest this summer.

Marking its 50th year, the competition got underway in February, when 55 contestants selected for its first round played in Cleveland and Paris.

The semifinalists will come to Cleveland this summer for three weeks of free public performances and ticketed competition events between July 28 and August 10, culminating in concerto performances with The Cleveland Orchestra and the bestowing of awards including the $75,000 Mixon First Prize.

This time around, the competition has revised its guidelines to allow contestants to play a broader range of repertoire. [Read more…]

Piano Cleveland celebrates 50 years of CIPC

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by Mike Telin

A 50th anniversary is always cause for celebration. But achieving that golden milestone requires hard work, and perhaps most importantly, the willingness to adapt to the ever-changing times.

In 2024, the Cleveland International Piano Competition (CIPC), which is set to take place from July 28 – August 10, will mark its 50th anniversary with a new approach to the design of the competition. One that encourages unique musical expression and creative artistic vision beyond the competition stage. All that comes with a new tagline — Classical Music, EVOLVED.

During a recent Zoom conversation, Piano Cleveland president Yaron Kohlberg noted that the changes were a result of him, executive director Marissa Moore, and the Piano Cleveland team thinking about the experiences they have accumulated over the past few years. Those included Kohlberg’s personal experiences in competitions, observations of other competitions and organizations, and conversations with a lot of pianists.

[Read more…]

Martín García García reflects on winning the Cleveland International Piano Competition

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by Mike Telin

On Saturday evening, August 7 at Severance Hall, the jury of the 2021 Cleveland International Piano Competition awarded the Mixon First Prize to 24-year-old Martín García García of Spain.

On Sunday afternoon I was able to speak with the still slightly stunned García García over Zoom.

Mike Telin: Congratulations! You played beautifully.

Martín García García: Thank you so much. I still can’t believe it.

MT: When you finished, I remembered you telling me last week that playing Rachmaninoff 3 was like climbing a mountain. I thought wow, not only did he climb the mountain, he firmly planted the Spanish flag at the summit.

MGG: It was quite nice to come onstage and see all the flags at the back. And it was such a good feeling to see the flag of my own country. [Read more…]

Four CIPC Finalists play concertos with The Cleveland Orchestra (Aug. 6 & 7)

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by Daniel Hathaway

The audiences for the Concerto Round of the Cleveland International Piano Competition on August 6 and 7 — both in-person and online — were eager to hear the four finalists play, but they were also about to enjoy the extra treat of hearing The Cleveland Orchestra live, back on its home turf, and at full strength for the first time since March of 2020.

That must have been an equally memorable experience for the four finalists whose performances in the earlier rounds won them the opportunity to play concertos with Jahja Ling and the Orchestra — a prize in itself.

Byeol Kim (31, from South Korea) led off on Friday evening with Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto, followed by Yedam Kim (32, also from South Korea), who chose Rachmaninoff No. 3. On Saturday, Lovre Marušić (28, from Croatia) reached back into the Classical period with Beethoven No. 4, and Martín García García (24, from Spain) closed out the competition with another Rachmaninoff No. 3. [Read more…]

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