Si Jing Ye Takes 1st Place at the 2008 Bachauer Young Artists Competition

The Gold Medal (1st place) for the 2008 Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Competition went to Si Jing Ye (age 16) from China / USA with an additional cash prize of $8,000. What a stunning performer! For her final round of the competition she played Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23. Si Jing is a true artist at the piano. Her performance of this work brought innovation and virtuosity to the music.

Si Jing played with a miraculous strength and power that almost seemed impossible from her small and delicate hands. She explored a full pallette of colors, dynamics, and sounds and produced a brilliant work of art that is worthy of great admiration. Truly a fine pianist and in every way worthy of the gold medal that she won. Congratulations, Si Jing Ye, on your great accomplishment and for enhancing the world of piano!

Kenric Tam Takes 2nd Place at the 2008 Bachauer Young Artists Competition

The silver medal (2nd place) for the 2008 Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Competition went to Kenric Tam (age 18) from the USA with an additional cash prize of $6,000. For the final round Kenric played Prokofiev's challenging and intense Concerto No. 2 in G Minor, Op. 16.

One of the things that stood out to me the most with Kenric's performance was his amazing power and endurance. This particular work is very tiring and draws constant energy from the performer. Kenric maintained a great power, strength, and energy throughout the entire performance. He gave a masterful performance that demonstrated his true abilities as an artist and as a fine pianist.

Jonathan Floril Takes 3rd place at the 2008 Bachauer Young Artist Competition

The bronze medal (3rd place) for the 2008 Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Competition went to Jonathan Floril (age 18) with an additional cash prize of $5,000. Jonathan is a powerful and artful performer. For his final round he played Beethoven's Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, Op. 52. I loved some of the fingering techniques he used while at the piano. He made the music look easy and simple with his quick-paced hands and stunningly accurate playing.

He brought out tones and colors to the music that I had not heard previously in this concerto. His trills were amazing and beautiful; and his range of dynamics left the mysteries of the piano completely exposed. Jonathan proved himself a brilliant artist, pianist, and musician.

Hin Yat Mozar Tsang Takes 4th place at the 2008 Bachauer Young Artists Competition

At the conclusion of the 2008 Gina Bachauer Young Artists Competition Mozar Tsang (age 15) from Hong Kong took home 4th place with a cash prize of $4,000.

Mozar Tsang was an absolutely delightful performer and person. For his final round he performed Shostakovich's Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102. This is a technically challenging piece and Mozar played it stunningly. He demonstrated a maturity for his art and had no reservations in taking risks with his interpretation and performance.

One of the great things about watching this young performer is seeing how he offers his emotions, feelings, and thoughts to be so prominently displayed to his audience. It is not easy to put one's emotions on display for such an audience, but Mozar has no reservations with putting his entire self into his music. He was truly an outstanding performer and fine artist.

Beatrice Rana Takes 6th Place in the 2008 Bachauer Young Artists Competition

Beatrice Rana (age 15) from Italy took 6th place in the 2008 Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Competition with a cash prize of $2,000. She performed Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23. Throughout the entire performance she demonstrated a great technical prowess for the piano. She had a daring boldness to her interpretation and brought many innovations to the work. I was especially impressed with her octave runs. She executed them with great velocity, accuracy, but maintained great clarity and expression.

I especially enjoyed her wide range of tempo and dynamics. She painted a beautiful picture of emotion for her audience and drew them into her performance with ease. Her music was exciting, powerful, delicate, and beautiful.

Nansong Huang Takes 5th place at the 2008 Young Artist Competition

In the final Rounds of the 2008 Gina Bachauer International Young Artists Competition Nansong Huang performed Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43. This is a very uncommon work to perform for a competition and Nansong pulled it off extremely well.

His technique seemed impeccable. At times, his music seemed almost magical. When he played the popular 18th variation I was deeply moved by the interpretation and thoughtfulness he demonstrated. He was then able to transition immediately into the 19-20th variations with great momentum and force.

Nansong Huang played as though the piano were an extension of him. The piano was no longer an instrument to be played, but rather, became a part of the artist himself. What wonderful music this young artist can produce!

Nansong took 5th place at the conclusion of the competition with a cash prize of $3,000. I look forward to hearing him perform in the future.

Yen-Yu (Jenny) Chen Age 14 USA

A quote from Jenny Chen reads, "I was asked to play for people and I discovered how much fun it is to share my music with others." Jenny, as much fun as you have sharing your music with others, we have just as much, if not more fun listening to you play :)

Jenny gave a wonderful performance in this 2008 Gina Bachauer Young Artist Competition. She had fun with her music and yet took her performance and the compositions very seriously. I have to say that her fun and smiley performance was very refreshing due to the stressful nature of a competition.

Jenny (Yen-Yu) Chen's first piece for the 2nd round was Haydn's Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI/50. She did some wonderful things with this piece and I especially enjoyed her interpretation and performance of the 2nd movement.

Her second piece was Chopin's Tarantella in A-flat Major, Op. 43, which proved her to have an excellent technique. This was followed by Chopin's Nocturne in C Minor, Op. 48, No. 1. Her Nocturne was gorgeous and really pulled me into it. She had a delicate ear for the sounds of the piano and adapted quickly and responsively to the piano on which she was performing (a Steinway Model D).

Her final piece was Prokofiev's Sonata No. 2 in D Minor, Op. 14. With this piece, she proved herself to be a wonderful artist.

Overall, her 2nd round proved to be an emotionally charged performance. She really connected with her audience and pulled them into the emotion and power of the music she was playing. Her performance, according to my watch, may have gone over her allotted 35 minutes, which may have been a major contributor to her not making it into the final rounds. The timing of competitions are extremely strict. But despite her not making it into the finals, I expect we will see many great things from Yen-Yu (Jenny) Chen in the future! What a wonderful musician she is!