Following the Preliminary round of Competition, on April 25 the names of the 84 pianists who will take part in the 17th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition in October 2015 in Warsaw were announced. For the first time in the history of the Competition, fans were able to follow the Preliminary Round in every corner of the world via the Competition’s website (chopincompetition2015.com), mobile apps for iOS and Android (Chopin Competition) and Youtube channel (youtube.com/chopin2015).
The most numerous group of artists admitted to the Competition are representatives of China and Poland – 15 people each. Beyond this, 12 pianists from Japan, 9 from Korea, 7 from Russia, 5 from the United States, and 3 each from Canada, Great Britain and Italy will perform in the Competition.
The international jury—led by Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń and comprised of Ludmil Angelov, Akiko Ebi, Adam Harasiewicz, Yves Henry, Andrzej Jasiński, Ivan Klánský, Anna Malikova, Alberto Nosè, Piotr Paleczny, Ewa Pobłocka, Marta Sosińska, Wojciech Świtała and Dina Yoffe—heard 152 candidates from all over the world. According to Competition rules, the pianists presented a program approximately 30 minutes in length, comprised of a selection from among Chopin’s etudes, mazurkas, nocturnes, scherzi, ballades, Fantasy and Barcarole.
In accordance with Competition Rules, 7 pianists were ensured participation in the Competition in October by winning other related Competitions: Dinara Klinton (Ukraine), winner of 2nd Prize at the 2013 Ignacy Jan Paderewski Competition in Bydgoszcz; Nozomi Nakagiri (Japan), winner of 2nd Prize at the 2012 Hamamatsu Competition; the winners of the 2015 American Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Miami: Eric Lu (USA) – 1st place and Rachel Naomi Kudo (USA) – 2nd place; and winners of the 2015 Polish National Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw: Andrzej Wierciński (1st prize), Łukasz Krupiński (2nd prize ex aequo) and Krzysztof Książek (2nd prize ex aequo). These 3 pianists as well as the other 12 Polish competitors— Tymoteusz Bies, Rafał Błaszczyk, Łukasz Piotr Byrdy, Katarzyna Gołofit, Adam Mikołaj Goździewski, Łukasz Mikołajczyk, Paweł Motyczyński, Szymon Nehring, Piotr Nowak, Piotr Ryszard Pawlak, Zuzanna Pietrzak and Michał Szymanowski—were featured in several concerts around the world in May.
American Chopin Competition winner Eric Lu will be presented by the Chopin Foundation of the United States at a concert at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall on June 24.
The 17th Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition will begin on 1 October 2015 with a special concert featuring Martha Argerich. The four-round Competition battle will last until 20 October.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015 | 8:00 pm
AmericanChopin Competition winner Eric Lu in Recital
Carnegie Hall – Weill Recital Hall
154 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019
Admission: $28 – $38
Tickets & Info: www.carnegiehall.org
[Sources: press release, chopincompetition2015.com]