Introduction
Music competitions
have one primary aim and that is to allow music lovers to listen in one single
place and during a relatively short period of time a large number of talented
musicians. Choosing from them a small number who merit a prize is only one
aspect of the competition, but an important one nonetheless, as it helps focus
both the audience and the competitors in the difficult but wonderful task of
musical interpretation and communication.
The Chopin Society
of Hong Kong is proud to be able to present to the music lovers in Hong Kong the
Hong Kong International Piano Competition to be held during 4-19 September 2005
at the City Hall Concert Hall. The competition will then take place every three
years, the next one scheduled for September 2008. A list of sponsors, which made
this competition possible, appears at the last page of this programme.
How the Competition
will be structured:
The competition
will bring together 21 candidates from 11 different countries, including Hong
Kong and the PRC.
14 of these
candidates will take part in Round I.
From this group, 8
will be selected to participate in Round II of the competition when they will be
joined by the remaining 7 candidates, themselves first prize winners from other
major international piano competitions which entitles them to enter directly
into Round II.
From
the 15 candidates thus participating in Round II, 8 will be selected to play in
Round III of the competition. Round III will consist of a chamber music work
performed by each candidate with a chamber group formed by members of the LCO.
From these 8
contestants, 6 will be nominated as Finalists
of the competition and entitled to participate in the Final Round IV.
During Round IV, the 6 candidates will each play two concertos each accompanied
by the London Chamber Orchestra (LCO) in one of the Concertos (compulsory
Mozart) and accompanied by the LCO plus members of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta in
performing the second Concerto.
From them, three
will be declared as:First Prizewinner (Gold medallist), Second Prizewinner
(Silver medallist) and Third Prizewinner (bronze medallist) respectively.
The candidates will be judged by a world-class jury under the
chairmanship of MaestroVladimir Ashkenazy ( in alphabetical order):
Leon Fleisher, Gary Graffman,Vladimir Krainev,Gabriel Kwok, Li
Mingqiang,Cristina Ortiz ,Pascal Roge and Eleanor Wong.
The orchestra which
will accompany the candidates at the later stages of the competition will be the
London Chamber Orchestra (LCO), complemented
by members of the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, under the baton of Maestro Christopher
Warren-Green.
What makes this
competition special is that it has attracted a large number of first prize
winners from other major international piano competitions, thus raising the
overall standard and making it nearly a �prize winners� competition�. As
the Chopin Society of Hong Kong firmly believes that the audience is as
important as the players and musicians themselves, all stages of the competition
will be open to the public.
This promises to be
an exciting and rewarding experience as music lovers in Hong Kong and guests who
will be joining us for this occasion from
other countries, will be able to enjoy and appreciate the music-making of the
candidates in solo performances during Round I and Round II of the competition,
then have the rare opportunity of listening to some wonderful piano chamber
music when the candidates chosen from the second round move to Round III,
accompanied here by string players of the LCO. Last but by no means least, the fourth and final
round will see six candidates performing
two piano concertos each accompanied by the full
LCO and members of the HKS.
The three top prize winners go on then to perform in a
piano solo gala performance and receive their gold, silver and bronze
medals and prizes.
However this is by
no means the end of the competition. Members of the jury, who had the task of
choosing the winners, will now reciprocate and will perform themselves for the
public and the contestants! Confirmed participants include (in alphabetical
order) Leon Fleisher, Gary Graffman,Vladimir Krainev, Li Mingqiang,
Cristina Ortiz and
Pascal Roge. Some of the jurors will play piano duos and others solos. This last
event is truly a world-class occasion, bringing together on the stage and at the
same time some of the biggest names in the world of piano!
Music lovers in Hong
Kong are urged to avail themselves of the opportunity to follow the development
of the competition day- by -day as all stages are open to the public. Detailed
programmes and the list of the candidates appear in the next pages of this
pamphlet. During the actual days of the competition a separate programme will
detail the pieces to be played by the candidates. Day pass and Round Pass
tickets are available for all the rounds of the competition, which will allow
music lovers to attend as much as they wish during individual rounds or days.
Points to remember and which will help you choose the events you wish to attend
are the following
 |
During the first round
(4-8 September) , 14 candidates will play and 8 of them will be chosen to
go on to the second round |
|
In the second round (10-12
September), the eight candidates will be joined by the seven first prizewinners
from other competitions which have been allowed to enter directly the second
round. Of the 15 total, 8 will be
chosen to go on to the third round |
|
During the third round, the
semi-finals, (14 September), 8 candidates will be performing piano chamber
pieces accompanied by members of the LCO. Six candidates will be chosen to go to
the finals |
|
The finals (15-17
September) will consist of the six candidates playing each two piano concertos
accompanied by the LCO and members of the HKSinfonietta. Three candidates will
then be awarded the first, second and third prizes |
|
The award giving ceremony
and the winners�s gala performance will take place on Sunday 18 September followed by the closing
Ceremony and the Jurors� gala performance on Monday 19 September |
The Chopin Society
of Hong Kong welcomes music lovers in Hong Kong to the competition and wishes
them good listening!
Dr Andrew Freris
Chairman,
The Chopin Society
of Hong Kong