Chopin Competition attracts record number of pianists
PR dla Zagranicy
John Beauchamp
27.02.2015 10:00
As many as 160 pianists from 27 countries have qualified to the preliminary stage of the 17th Chopin International Piano Competition, which will start on 13 April, five and a half months before the competition itself.
The musicians were selected by a panel of judges on the basis of DVD recordings sent by 445 pianists, an all-time record in the history of the event.
Pianists from Asia are by far the most numerous group, with 26 entrants from China, 25 from Japan, and 24 from South Korea.
Poland will be represented by 21 pianists, with Russia and the United States represented by eleven pianists each. Britain, Italy, France, Canada, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Taiwan have between two and six entrants in the pre-competition round.
The names of 80 participants in the competition, which opens on 1 October, will be announced on 25 April.
The international jury will be chaired by Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń from Poland and will include such household names as the event’s former First Prize winners – Martha Argerich, Dang Thai Son, Adam Harasiewicz and Garrick Ohlsson.
Founded in 1927, the Chopin Competition in Warsaw is one of the oldest and most prestigious events of its kind. (mk/jb)