Chopin Competition finals: Day One
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
18.10.2015 10:58
Four pianists are to appear on Sunday in the first day of the finals of the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in the Polish capital Warsaw.
Japanese player Aimi Kobayashi (C) following the announcement that she will play in the finals of the Chopin Piano Competition. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak
Seong-Jin Cho of South Korea, Aljoša Jurinić of Croatia, Aimi Kobayashi of Japan and Kate Liu of the United States have all chosen Chopin’s E minor Concerto for their performance.
Of the ten finalists, only one – Charles Richard-Hamelin of Canada – will play the Concerto in F minor. All the finalists are accompanied by the Warsaw Philharmonic under Jacek Kaspszyk.
Poland’s only finalist, Szymon Nehring, will appear before the Warsaw audience on Monday.
Prizewinners’ names will be announced after the last day of the finals, on Tuesday night.
The international jury, chaired by Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, a professor at the Music Academy in the northern Polish city of Bydgoszcz, includes many world-famous pianists and previous winners of the Chopin Competition, such as Adam Harasiewicz, Martha Argerich, Garrick Ohlsson, Dang Thai Son and Yundi.
On Saturday, jury members and the competition finalists were entertained at the Presidential Palace by President Andrzej Duda and the First Lady. The meeting took place in the hall which was the venue of the first public concert of the then eight-year-old Chopin. (mk/rg/rk)