An Introduction to
the Hong Kong International Piano Competition

The First Hong Kong International Piano Competition was held in September 2005 and met with widespread success in terms of support by the local music-lovers and of its acceptance by the international music community The Chopin Society of Hong Kong is proud to present the Second Hong Kong International Piano Competition to be held during 4-21 October 2008 at the City Hall Concert Hall thus establishing firmly the role of the Competition among the leading musical events of the world.

We are even more proud to announce that the Society is now actively planning the Third Competition to be held in October –November 2011, always under the inspired chairmanship of maestro Vladimir Ashkenazy

The Hong Kong International Piano Competition has established its own benchmark of an event which combines a truly unique jury containing major pianists and personalities from the music world, a program which emphasizes music-making rather than a “musical race” and, last but not least, by its signature Gala Performance of the members of the jury which brings together in a single event some of the best pianists in the world.

All this would not be possible without the generosity and constant support from our major sponsors, Leisure and Culture Services Department, Lady Kadoorie, Sir Michael and Lady Betty Kadoorie, CLP Holdings, Teresa Li-Lai, Tom Tang, Tom Lee Music and the Tom Lee Music Foundation. The Society wishes to thank all our sponsors for making this event possible and giving the opportunity to music lovers in Hong Kong to enjoy nearly three weeks of wonderful music-making by the candidates, the members of the jury, the orchestra of the competition, the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong plus 30 guest artists, and the prestigious Endellion Quartet from the UK.

There will be 15 contestants participating in the Competition, 3 of which are first prize winners of the World Federation of International Music Competitions and, therefore, will enter the Competition directly in Round I. There will be 13 contestants participating in Round I of the Competition and of these up to 9 will be selected to participate in Round II where they will be joined by the 3 contestants entering directly in Round II. There will be up to 12 contestants in Round II of which 6 will be selected to participate in Rounds III and IV. There will be no elimination between Rounds III and Round IV. The scores obtained by each participant in Round III will be taken into account by the jury when giving the final score which will determine the order in which the prizes will be awarded.

The candidates will be judged by a world-class jury under the chairmanship of Vladimir Ashkenazy and deputy chairmanship of Li Ming-qiang (in alphabetical order): Peter Frankl, Gary Graffman, Thorum Johannsdottir-Ashkenazy, Vladimir Krainev, Ka-tak Gabriel Kwok, Cristina Ortiz, Pascal Roge, Jeremy Siepmann and Yee-lun Eleanor Wong.

The orchestra which will accompany the candidates at Round IV of the competition will be the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong augmented by a group of international musicians under the baton of maestro Christopher Warren- Green, the chief conductor of the London Chamber Orchestra. The Endellion Quartet from the UK, will play with the contestants during Round III of the competition. Both the orchestra and the quartet will be featured in performances marking the awards of the prizes and the closing of the competition.

As 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 will be able to enjoy the music-making of the candidates in solo performances during the Round I and II of the competition, and then have the rare opportunity of listening to some wonderful piano chamber music when the candidates chosen from Round II move on to Round III accompanied by the Endellion Quartet. Last but not least, Round IV, the final round, will see six finalists perform two piano concertos each accompanied by the augmented City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong. During the prize-giving ceremony all six winners will be given their cash prizes and the three top winners will also receive their Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. All six winners will then go on to perform in a piano solo gala performance where they will also be joined by Ilya Rashkovskiy, the first prize winner of the Hong Kong International Piano competition of 2005.

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! This event is truly a world-class occasion, bringing together and at the same time some of the biggest names in world of piano! And to crown it all, the closing event of the competition will bring the augmented City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong under the baton of maestro Ashkenazy in a performance of piano concertos by members of the jury. Detailed programmes and timetables, ticketing information and prices as well as the list of the candidates appear in following chapters of this website.

The Chopin Society of Hong Kong Ltd welcomes music lovers in Hong Kong to the competition and wishes them good listening!

Dr Andrew Freris
Chairman,
The Chopin Society of Hong Kong Ltd