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!

Chengcheng Yao Age 16 China

I was immediately impressed with Chengcheng when I read a quote from her that reads, "I hope to perform in the places where classical music is not in popularization, and let everyone in the world began to love it." This is a noteworthy goal and I certainly believe that she can and will accomplish it!

Chengcheng played four very difficult pieces for the 2nd round of the Gina Bachauer 2008 Young Artists Competition. She began her program with Czerny's Variations on a Theme by Rode "La Ricordanza", Op. 33. I think this was an excellent piece to choose. Czerny is not all that common in performances, although EVERY pianist is familiar with his work because he wrote so many technique exersizes. Chengcheng has obviously fine-tuned her technique through the use of Czerny's music and this showed in this performance. She really had excellent technique and a wonderful expression throughout this work. Her runs were crisp and delightful.

Her second work was Ravel's Scarbo from Gaspard de le nuit. I really enjoyed her interpretation of the opening of this piece. Her dynamics were superb and she had a great balance and use of volume changes.

Chengcheng then played Chopin's Berceuse, Op. 57. This is a tricky piece to play. In the hands of a not-so-good performer, this piece can be disastrous. But Chengcheng Yao played this piece beautifully! One of the tricks to this piece is to keep the left hand expressive and meaningful despite the fact that it repeats the same measure for almost the entire work. Chengcheng did such a wonderful job of this that I could have listened to just her left hand and still come away touched by her music! I was deeply moved by her performance of Chopin's Berceuse.

Her final piece was Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 - another difficult work. She used some very interesting tempo changes throughout the piece and experimented with a variety of sounds and colors. It turned out wonderfully. I loved listening to her play this piece as well as all of her others.

Chengcheng, although you did not make it to the final round, you certainly gave a 1st class performance! I was impressed and in awe at the grandeur of your performance. Thank you for your beautiful music!

Song Choi Age 18 USA

For the second round of the 2008 Gina Bachauer Competition Song Choi performed 3 pieces. Her first was Sonata in D Major, K. 311 by Mozart. Song had excellent expression throughout this piece. I especially enjoyed her interpretation of the 2nd movement. She had a very light pedal throughout the 2nd movement that really enhanced the natural overtones and subtle nuances of the instrument.

Song Choi then played the first movement of Chopin's Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58. She brought out some interesting but effective rhythm changes and embellishments that I enjoyed. She also had a good balance between the dominant voice and bringing out secondary sounds and expressions.

Her final piece was Ravel's Ondine from Gaspard de la nuit. She did an excellent job of keeping the melody moving despite the changing hands, varied rhythms, and fluctuating accompanyment. Overall, I was very impressed with Song Choi's performance. She has an excellent ear for her music and I wish her the best in her coming career. She gave a wonderful performance.

And the 6 Finalists Are...

Last night I attended the evening session of the 2nd round of the Gina Bachauer 2008 Young Artists Competition. I heard four wonderful performances. Within about an hour of the last performance the jury announced the six finalists of the competition. I only had the chance to attend the performances of nine competitors, and none of the nine I attended made it to the final round. So I cannot give any commentary for the finalists, but hopefully I'll have something to say after the final round concludes this evening.

I'll post individual commentary about the performers I was impressed with last night in alternate posts; but here are the six finalists for the 2008 Gina Bachauer Young Artists Competition (not ranked in any order):

• Nansong Huang (age 14 from China)
• Jonathan Floril (age 18 from Spain)
• Hin Yat Mozar Tsang (age 15 from Hong Kong)
• Beatrice Rana (age 15 from Italy)
• Si Jing Ye (age 16 from Chine/USA)
• Kenric Tam (age 18 from USA)

To all of these great pianists - good luck at tonight's performance!

Day 1 of the Gina Bachauer Young Artists Competition 2008

I am posting this a couple of days late, but I was able to attend the evening session of the Bachauer Young Artists Competition on Tuesday. I had the opportunity to hear 5 talented musicians perform a variety of composers and works. I do not have any particular commentary on any of these performances, but here is what was performed:

Hao Tian (Tim) Zhang (Age 14 from Canada)

• Johann Sebastian Bach - Prelude and Fugue in G Major
• Ludwig Van Beethoven - Sonata in E-Flat Major, Op. 31, No. 3
• Franz Liszt - Mephisto Waltz, No. 1

Marie Kyone (Age 18 from Japan)

• Franz Josef Haydn - Sonata in E-flat Major, Hob. XVI/52
• Olivier Messiaen - Regard de l'Esprit de joie

Joong-Hun Cho (Age 15 from Korea)

• Frederic Chopin - Etude in F Major, Op. 10, No. 8
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Sonata in A Major, K. 331
• Robert Schumann - Allegro in B Minor, Op. 8

Sara Vujadinovic (Age 17 Serbia)

• Frederic Chopin - Impromptu in F-sharp Major, Op. 36
• Claude Debussy - Masques, Feux d'artifice
• Maurice Ravel - Alborada del gracioso

Asami Arai (Age 18 from Japan)

• Franz Josef Haydn - Piano Sonata in A-flat Major, Hob.XVI/46
• Frederic Chopin - Scherzo in E Major, OP. 54

Ching Toa Aristo Sham Wins the 2008 Junior Bachauer Competition

In my previous post I mentioned a performance by Ching-Toa Aristo Sham. This evening I attended the final rounds of the 2008 Junior Bachauer competition, and to no surprise this talented young artist won 1st prize in the competition.

The final round was sold out to a good sized crowd. Unfortunately, the competition was delayed by three hours due to a power failure and the entire competition had to be moved to an alternate location.

There were six finalists (in order of performance and left to right in the picture):

• Qi Xu - 13 years old from China
• George Li - 12 years old from USA
• Jan Lisiecki - 13 years old from Canada
• Ching Toa Aristo Sham - 12 years old from Hong Kong
• Yi Jia Wang - 12 years old from China
• Anna Han - 12 years old from USA

They all gave amazing performances - even despite the late hour (it was almost midnight when the performances concluded). George Li took second place and Ching Toa took first place. I was so impressed with all of their performances.

The final round consisted of concerti with piano accompanyment taking the place of the orchestra. I was very impressed with George Li's Concerto No. 2 by Saint-Saens. It was exciting and he definitely has a great stage presence about it. Ching Toa's Concerto No. 1 by Beethoven was amazing. He has a subtle power to his music that amplifies the performance ten-fold. His technique was crisp and his musicianship was beyond his years.

What an amazing experience it has been to participate in the Gina Bachauer Junior competition. I am looking forward to the Young Artist competition that begins next week. Again, for those of you in the Salt Lake area, I encourage you to attend. You will be amazed and astounded at the great music produced by such young artists.

Ching Toa Aristo Sham Gives a Stunning Performance

Yesterday I decided to take my daughter to the the Gina Bachauer competition. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for her to attend a piano recital since each competitor's performance in this first round is only 25 minutes and she is still so young that something much longer would be hard for her to sit through.

We arrived just before the final competitor in the afternoon session. The competitor was 12-year old Ching Toa Aristo Sham from Hong Kong. He played some Bach, Haydn, and Mendelsshon. His performance was one of the most amazing musical experiences I've had. He played with a musical maturity that most college-level musicians don't have (myself included). Typically a 12-year old musician, even the talented ones, seem to be copying another musician's style and artistry; but this young artist seemed truly that - an artist - and not just an imitator. Don't get me wrong - all of the other young competitors are amazing and what they will surely become is wonderful to think about. I am simply stating that I felt as though Ching-Tao was ages ahead of the typical artist of his age (even among the prodigious competitors drawn to the Bachauer).

I look forward to the great music he will produce in the future!

So far, the Bachauer has been a most rewarding experience - as it always is. If you live near the Salt Lake area, there is still over one week of competition left, so be sure to get some tickets and attend!

A Talented Young Artist - Reta

Tonight my family had the opportunity to attend the solo recital for a young lady in our neighborhood, Reta (I'll omit her last name for privacy reasons). She played a portion of Mendelssohn's popular Song Without Words as well as Beethoven's entire Sonata No. 8 (Opus 13) - Pathetique (or Patetica). She played the Mendelssohn beautifully and had a great array of dynamics throughout the piece.

Her Beethoven Sonata was superb. For those of you unfamiliar with this work, it is quite a popular Sonata of his. The opening Grave section is a fine example of Beethoven's unique style and how he breaks away from the Classical genre of his day transitioning into the Romantic period. This work was written during his younger years but, in my opinion, is still full of the innovation that Beethoven produced throughout his lifetime. The second movement of this piece is a beautiful Adagio. Beethoven indicated Adagio cantabile for the second movement, where "cantabile" translates to something like "singable" or "song-like". I would describe cantabile as something you find yourself singing along to even though there are no lyrics. This can be a bit tricky in this piece because the melody is carried in the right hand along with a moving accompanyment. Reta did a wonderful job of bringing out this "song-like" melody. As it happens, I was already planning on releasing a recording of this second movement on my Lisztonian website within the next 2-3 weeks - so stay tuned for that.

I appreciated the fact that the recital was treated informally, so we were able to bring our children. I always love opportunities to expose my children to good music. It is so encouraging to attend performances of young artists because it reminds me that classical piano music is still alive and well!

Reta, you did an excellent job! Brava! You played beautifully and I look forward to hearing your music again in the future.

Don Giovanni

Last night my wife and I attended the Utah Opera's performance of Mozart's Don Giovanni! I thought that it was fabulous. The music was wonderful. I've always enjoyed the music to Don Giovanni, but this was my first time actually seeing the opera. It was a wonderful experience.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mozart's Don Giovanni, let me give you a brief summary (in my own, uneducated words).

Don Giovanni is Mozart's creative genius combined with the legend of Don Juan all put to extraordinary music. Don Giovanni is the main character and is a womanizer to say the least. He has an easily intimidated servant who, although outwardly disagreeing with his master's actions, is somehow always convinced to remain faithful to his master's bidding. The opera opens with Don Giovanni attacking a girl who is currently engaged to be wed. The girl's father appears and attempts to fight of the attacker (who is disguised at the time) but ends up dead. While the duel is taking place, the daughter has run off to find help. She returns to find her father dead. Her fiance swears to avenge her father's death.

To make a long story short, the young lady and her fiance spend the rest of the opera chasing down Don Giovanni (they eventually find out he was the attacker). However, before they are able to kill him, he is confronted by the statue of the Comendatore (the girl's father). Yes, that's right - a statue. There is a statue of the Comendatore in the cemetary. While Don Giovanni and his servent are fleeing the mob that is after them, they end up in the cemetary where the statue begins to speak to them. Don Giovanni, thinking it to be some sort of trickery (while being inwardly frightened) invites the statue to dinner. He and his servant return home and prepare a marvelous meal, which Don Giovanni begins to partake of right away - he does this to show that he is not at all afraid of the "ghost" of his victim. Well, as it turns out, it wasn't a trick, and the Comendatore shows up for dinner! He (the statue), in turn invites Don Giovanni to return with him for dinner (implying the after-life). Don Giovanni accepts the offer, at which point he is told to "shake on it"... he does and the apparition's cold hand graps onto Don Giovanni's and does not let go. He commands Don Giovanni to repent several times, but Don Giovanni refuses. So the flames of hell come and drag him away. After this ghastly scene ends, the other characters enter the home looking for Don Giovanni only to find his frightened servant. The servant relays the story and they all rejoice and sing the moral of the story - which is that evil-doers are no good :)

My summary does not do the opera justice by any means. It is actually a very deep, complex, and yet witty, whimsical work of art. If you have never seen a performance of Don Giovanni, then check your local opera house or universities and find out when the next performance will be!

Kotaro Fukuma Concert

Last night I had the extreme pleasure of attending the latest in the Gina Bachauer Concert Series. The performer was a Japanese artist by the name of Kotaro Fukuma. He played 4 different composers including Haydn, Schumann, Takemitsu, and Scriabin.

This was my first experience hearing the music of Toru Takemitsu - a famous Japanese composer.

The concert was fabulous. I was extremely touched by his performance of the Haydn Sonata. There was also one of the scenes from Schumann's Carnival that I have never heard performed with such an astounding brilliance -- I'm struggling to remember what the name of that scene is called.

He performed one encore piece that was another work of Schumann's (I believe it was Spring Evening?) arranged by Franz Liszt. Although it was reminiscent of something I've heard before, it was not all too familiar to me.

Immediately following the performance I went straight to the lobby to purchase Kotaro's album of Toru Takemitsu to add it to my collection. Kotaro was also in the lobby greeting and thanking his patrons and so I took the opportunity to have him sign my new CD :)

If any of you have the opportunity to see Kotaro in concert, PLEASE DO! Also, I encourage you to consider buying one of his albums that he has available here.

Dmitri Ratser - A Brilliant Performance!

It is difficult to describe the evening I had as my wife and I enjoyed a talented artist performing an impressive program. Ratser opened the performance with one of my favorite pieces, Schumann's Fanatasy in C Major. I have heard this piece performed live many times, and have several recording, and I have NEVER experienced a performance so rich in interpretation and individual flavor. I was almost brought to tears at one point during the first movement of this work. It was astounding.

His second piece was his own arrangment of three themes from Carmen written in the style of the Great Franz Liszt. Phenomenal! What excitement! I was almost falling out of my seat and could hardly contain myself. The moment he concluded I jumped out of my chair to give him a standing ovation. Within seconds, 3/4ths of the crowd had joined me in a standing ovation. It was a magnificent arrangment with distinct Lisztian style and with a equally dramatic performance.

After an intermission he then Played Liszt's Vallee d’Obermann. This is a wonderful work and his performance, yet again, was stunning. He followed this by performing two of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Preludes and two Etudes. For those of you who may not be familiar with Dmitri Ratser, he is particularly well known for his interpretations of Rachmaninoff. These four works were absolutely no let-down. One of the preludes happened to be the one that I just posted last week, Prelude in C Sharp Minor (which I dedicated to my friend, Dane Laverty). Dane, if you happen to be reading this, he puts us both to shame in the performance of this piece... although that really goes without saying -- Ratser is a brilliant artist.

His final piece was a jazz set of variations on a theme by paganini. He concluded with another round of standing ovations and then graced the audience with an encore of a short piece that I can only guess was by Franz Liszt (Ratser didn't introduce the piece). It was familiar to me, but I couldn't quite figure out what it was.

What an incredible evening. My wife and I both had such a wonderful time. Oh, and of course, he performed on a beautiful Steinway model D piano. Ratser is a Steinway Artist, which means he is a professional pianist of virtuoso level, performs regularly, and owns a steinway piano. I should mention that Steinway does NOT pay pianists to endorse them... in fact, because Steinway Artists must own a Steinway, the ARTIST is the one who pays to endorse Steinway. That alone should indicate what a magnificent instrument they are. Other piano makers pay artists to endorse their pianos, but Steinway does not, and has never needed to. To all who have donated to my SignMyPiano project -- THANK YOU -- hopefully my own dream of owning one of these instruments will not be too far off!

Thank you, Dmitri Ratser for a wonderful evening; and thank you, Bachauer Foundation for sponsoring this event!

Dmitri Ratser - In Concert

Tomorrow night the Bachauer Foundation is sponsoring a concert by Dmitri Ratser. My wife and I will be attending and I'm really looking forward to it. I have heard such wonderful things about this performer. You can find information about the performance here. I encourage everybody to attend!

He specializes in music by Rachmaninoff and wil be performing 4 of Rachmaninoff's etudes at the concert.