The 13th edition of International Competition for Young Pianists dedicated to the Works of Fr. Chopin took place in Narva, Estonia between the 9th and the 16th of February.
As every year a huge amount of work was made in order to write projects to get financial support, to find sponsors, to advertise the competition through local newspapers, television, Internet, brochures and mail and the competition was a success.
The competition started with the preliminary round with applicants from 13 different countries: Portugal, Estonia, Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Switzerland, Russia, Azerbaijan, Finland, Taiwan, Kazakhstan and Belarus. As usual, the biggest number of young musicians, their teachers and parents arrived from Russia.
Three different age categories and one main venue to host them: the Narva Music School. The entire event was also broadcasted so it was possible to watch it live and be part of it.
The jury was composed by five well-known musicians from different countries:
Mr. Lembit Orgse – professor at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (Estonia, the jury chamber);
Ms. Joanna Marcinkowska – habilitated Doctor of Musical Art and Professor at the I. J. Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznań (Poland);
Mr. Toms Ostrovskis, associate professor, a faculty member of the Piano Department of Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music (Latvia);
Mr. Niklas Pokki, a Head of Piano Department at the University of the Arts Helsinki, Sibelius Academy (Finland).
Mr. Vladimit Doulov, a Head of the special piano department at the Belarusian State Academy of Music (Belarus).
On February 15th took place the final concert of laureates, the awarding as well the closing ceremony. Many prizes have been consigned for each categories, including special prize and future projects participantion.
Here we report some:
I age group
Laureate of the First Prize Pirogovas, Pijus (Lithuania)
Laureate of the Second Prize Cherkasova, Polina (Russia)
Laureate of the Second Prize Szymula, Franciszek Leszek (Poland)
Laureate of the Third Prize Posikera, Aleksandr (Russia)
II age group
Laureate of the First Prize Sejbuk, Zuzanna Lucja (Poland)
Laureate of the Third Prize Petrov, Igor (Russia)
Laureate of the Third Prize Shchukina, Anna (Russia)
III age group
Laureate of the Second Prize Wiercinski, Krzysztof (Poland)
Laureate of the Third Prize Liiv, Tähe-Lee (Estonia)
Laureate of the Third Prize Huang, Yi-Chung (Germany)
The EMCY Prize went to Leyla Zeynalova, who also received the Grand Prix.
On February 16, the concert of prize-winners of the Competition was held in the Estonia Concert Hall in Tallinn. These concerts were given by the winners of each section and it was such a delight to hear the performances given by these talented young people.
An interesting non-competitive program provided an opportunity to get acquainted with Narva. Within the competition were organized many activities like evening excursions, master class and round tables with the Jury members and a bus tour to Narva. This competition has a great cultural significance to Estonia and it is well known for the high level of organization, goodwill and willingness of organizers and staff.
The Chopin competition was the most important cultural event of the month in Estonia and even more proudly the highest point of cultural cooperation between Estonia and Poland.
Leyla Zeynalova – EMCY Prize winner
