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Oberlin Cooper International Piano Competition: Four prizes awarded, Liu, Colafelice & McLaurin advance to Final Round

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Oberlin, OH — Thursday, July 26

Oberlin Cooper Competition Finalists

L-R: Xiaoyu Liu, Leonardo Colafelice, and Micah McLaurin. Photo: Roger Mastroianni

Following the Recital Round on Wednesday evening in Warner Concert Hall at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the judges for the Cooper International Piano Competition announced the names of the three contestants who will compete on Friday evening in Severance Hall with Jahja Ling and The Cleveland Orchestra. They are, in performance order:

Xiaoyu Liu, 15, Montréal, Québec, Canada — Rachmaninov: Concerto No. 2
Micah McLaurin, 17, Charleston, SC — Chopin: Concerto No. 2
Leonardo Colafelice, 16, Altamura, Bari, Italy — Rachmaninov: Concerto No. 3

The 8 pm performance will be broadcast live over WCLV, 104.9 FM. Tickets are available from the Severance Hall box office, 216.231.11111 or can be ordered online. A free performance at 4pm in Reinberger Chamber Music Hall will feature outstanding performances from the Semifinals Round.

Wednesday evening’s emcee, WCLV president Robert Conrad, also announced winners of four prizes:

The audience favorite award went to Leonardo Colafelice.

The sixth-place winner was Sarina Zhang, 16, from San Diego, CA

Tieing for the fourth-place prize were Sahun Hong, 18, of Fort Worth, TX, and Annie Zhou, 14, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Oberlin Cooper International Piano Competition: Six advance to Recital Round

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Oberlin, OH — Tuesday, July 24

Following the Concerto Round on Tuesday evening, the judges for the Cooper International Piano Competition announced the names of the six contestants who will compete on Wednesday evening in the Recital Round. Each will play a 20-minute recital. The 7 pm performance will be broadcast live over WCLV, 104.9 FM. The concert is free and open to the public.

The six contestants are listed in performing order:

Sarina Zhang, 16, San Diego, CA
Sahun Hong, 18, Fort Worth, TX
Xiaoyu Liu, 15, Montréal, Québec, Canada
Micah McLaurin, 17, Charleston, SC
Annie Zhou, 14, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Leonardo Colafelice, 16, Altamura, Bari, Italy

Click here to download the program book with biographies. (pdf file, 5mb).

Oberlin Cooper International Piano Competition: Concerto Round 2

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Oberlin, OH — Tuesday, July 24

by Daniel Hathaway

The evening session of the Concerto Round brought the final five performers to the Warner Concert Hall stage along with the opportunity of hearing three more performances of Rachmaninov #2 and two versions of Chopin #2. Remember those “compare and contrast” exam questions? We’ll try to treat each repeat performance as if we were hearing it for the first time.

Micah McLaurin, 17, from Charleston, NC went first with Chopin’s second concerto. Sitting ramrod straight and barely changing his expression, Mr. McLaurin established a ruminative, poetic mood matched by an agreeably elastic tempo. His feathery touch produced beautiful, well-organized runs with shape and a sense of destination. But as the piece flowed on, Mr. McLaurin seemed largely to be playing on the surface of the music rather than digging into its underlying layers. Alicja Basinska was the attentive and supportive second pianist.
[Read more…]

Oberlin Cooper International Piano Competition: the 10 Concerto Round Semifinalists

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Oberlin, OH — Monday, July 23

The following ten pianists will compete in this order in Tuesday’s Concerto Round. ClevelandClassical will report from Warner Concert Hall at Oberlin after each of the two sessions, which will begin at 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm.

 

 

Rachel Breen, 15, Oakland, CA – Beethoven 4
Sae Yoon Chon, 16, Seoul, South Korea – Beethoven 5
Leonardo Colafelice, 16, Altamura, Bari, Italy – Rachmaninov 3
Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, 15, New York, NY – Rachmaninov 2
Phoebe Pan, 14, Ivine, CA – Schumann
Micah McLaurin, 17, Charleston, SC – Chopin 2
Xiaoyu Liu, 15, Montréal, Québec, Canda – Rachmaninov 2
Annie Zhou, 14, Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Chopin 2
Sarina Zhang, 16, San Diego, CA – Rachmaninov 2
Sahun Hong, 18, Ft. Worth, TX – Rachmaninov 2

Click here to download the program book with biographies. (pdf file, 5mb).

Oberlin Cooper International Piano Competition: the 16 Semifinalists

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Oberlin, OH — Monday, July 23

The following sixteen pianists will compete today in this order for ten positions in Tuesday’s Concerto Round. ClevelandClassical will report from Oberlin after each of the two Tuesday sessions, which will begin at 1:30 pm and 7:30 pm.

 

 

Rachel Breen, 15, Oakland, CA
Amiran Zenaishvili, 16, Moscow, Russian Federation
Sae Yoon Chon, 16, Seoul, South Korea
Jun Hwi Cho, 16, Seoul, South Korea
Leonardo Colafelice, 16, Altamura, Bari, Italy
Dong Won Lee, 18, Redmond, WA
Yishan Hong, 17, Beijing, China
Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner, 15, New York, NY
Phoebe Pan, 14, Ivine, CA
Micah McLaurin, 17, Charleston, SC
Xiaoyu Liu, 15, Montréal, Québec, Canda
Hyung-Do Kim, 16, Palisades Park, NJ
Annie Zhou, 14, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Christopher Son Richardson, 14, Danville, CA
Sarina Zhang, 16, San Diego, CA
Sahun Hong, 18, Ft. Worth, TX

Click here to download the program book with biographies. (pdf file, 5mb).

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