Qualifiers confirmed for International Chopin Competition
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
27.04.2015 09:31
Eighty-four pianists will compete for awards during the 17th International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, which opens on 1 October.
Chairperson of the jury Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń (C) reveals the qualifiers for the International Chopin Competition. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Seventy-seven of them have been selected by an international jury in a preliminary round which was entered by 152 pianists from 27 countries.
The remaining seven are winners of other major piano competitions and did not have to take part in the preliminary round.
Professor Katarzyna Popowa-Zydroń, who chaired the jury, told the Polish Press Agency that pianists from the Far East stood out in demonstrating a genuine depth of interpretation of Chopin’s music. Fifteen pianists from China, 12 from Japan and 9 from South Korea have qualified to the event.
Poland will be represented by 15 pianists, Russia by seven, and the United States by five. There are two sixteen-year-olds among the participants in the competition.
The 17th Chopin Competition has generated an unprecedented interest with as many as 450 pianists sending in their audio and DVD recordings in the initial stage of the selection process.
The Warsaw event is one of the oldest and most prestigious music competitions. It was launched in 1927 and its past winners include such household names as Maurizio Pollini, Martha Argerich, Garrick Ohlsson, Krystian Zimerman and Rafał Blechacz. (mk/nh)