Congratulations to all winners and performers of the 2nd Paderewski Piano Competition in Los Angeles

11 czerwca, 2013

The 2nd Paderewski Piano Competition was held in Los Angeles on May 21st-26th, 2013.

54 pianists (from the USA, China, Korea, Poland, Taiwan, Russia, Israel, Japan, Canada, Georgia, Armenia and France submitted their applications. Out of them 27 pianists were admitted to the competitions. Their skills were watched (or listened) by jury combined of Wojciech Kocyan (LMU, USA), John Perry (USA), Wojciech Switala (Poland), Adam Wibrowski (France), Lee Kum Sing (Canada). Seven pianists made it to the finals: Peter Toth (Hungary), Krzysztof Ksiazek (Poland), NingYuen Li (China), Soyoung Choe (Korea), Christine Wu (USA), Jason Stoll (USA) and Tomer Gewirtzman (Israel).

And the winners are:
First Place Winner - Peter Toth, Hungary (Special Awards: Barbara Wibrowski Award for the Best European Pianist $1,500 and two concerts in Poland and/or France, Association “Polish Community” Award, $2,000, Paderewski Statuette by Andrzej Renes, and invitation to the Paderewski Festival in Lviv)

Second Place Winner - Krzysztof Ksiazek, Poland (Special Award: presented by the Paderewski Music Society, LA, Best Performance of Paderewski

Third Place Winner – NingYuen Li, China (presented by the Paderewski Music Society, LA)

Best American Pianist In The Final Round (presented by the Chopin Foundation of the United States): Christine Wu

Jury’s Choice - Soyoung Choe, Korea (presented by the Paderewski Music Association in Bydgoszcz, Poland) - one week of master classes for pianists playing piano concertos with symphony orchestra at the Paderewski Piano Academy, Bydgoszcz, Poland – equivalent of 1,000 Euros.

More at: LINK >>>

And some comments:

“The Competition is well organized and has been run very smoothly, with a very intimate atmosphere, as though each competitor is giving a recital rather than competing. I\'ve enjoyed working with the organization and the judges many of whom are well known musicians who I\'ve worked with and known for many years. Lee Kum Sing”

The competition is of a remarkably high level, totally comparable with the most established competitions in the world. John Perry”

“The level of playing in the Competition is extremely high. In the finals we have not only pianists of the highest caliber but more importantly, interesting , and different artistic personalities. This is a world class event. Wojciech Kocyan”

“I would like to congratulate you on a successful completion of the Second American Paderewski Piano Competition! I was absolutely amazed at the level of professionalism of all the pianists who made it to the final round. It was astonishing! Every single one of them deserved to be noticed. Some had more musicality and expression than the others, but their technical qualities surpassed my expectations.

My favorite pianist didn\'t win, but that\'s the unpredictable nature of competitions and the fact that we all have our differences in opinions.

I talked to many people in the audience and I can tell you that everyone was amazed at the quality of this competition and the high level of performances.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see the hall quite full on Saturday.

As far as I am concerned, you can always count on my help and support. Sincerely, Marina Grozdanovic".