The Fryderyk Chopin Society of Warsaw kindly invites interested persons to participate in The Second International Fryderyk Chopin Competition for Amateur Pianists.
The Competition will be held at the University of Music in Warsaw, 11-15 September 2012.
Information available on www.konkurs.amator.pl and from the organiser: (+48 22) 827 95 89, info@chopin.pl

THANK YOU!

Some of us have been wondering and talking about this, and hoping very much that you would be having it again. It's great to see this being planned so far in advance. It gives us a good chance to get to work!

OK, let's see the repertoire requirements....

I see that the repertoire requirements are similar to last time, just with a different round-by-round distribution, and leaves us very free to choose our pieces. I love especially that everyone will be playing pieces from Chopin's major Polish forms, the mazurka and polonaise. It was a thrill in 2009 to hear such a display of them, enabling us to hear not only many performances of the most famous ones but also some of those that are rarely heard, and it was especially moving to be experiencing all of this in Poland. It was also a great and rare opportunity to discuss performance practices of these forms, not only among ourselves but also with the jury.

If it sounds like I'm trying to help spread the word, yes indeed I am! The event in 2009 was a great joy and it seemed everybody was looking forward to the next time.

Repertoire requirements:

1st round, 10-15 minutes, to include a Chopin Waltz

2nd round, 15-20 minutes, to include two Chopin Mazurkas

3rd round, 20-25 minutes, to include a Chopin Polonaise

You going to do this, Mark?

You think I'd be caught dead not doing it?

But first we have to apply. Really, you never know....

Two mazurkas in the second is going to be tough!

Oh yeah, we have to apply and qualify first.

Not for you!

(Why?)

I often struggled with getting the mazurka rhythm correctly.

It will tougher if they require to play one Mazurka and one Waltz in the same round, and played back to back, Waltz first and then Mazurka..... Most people will end up playing two Waltz sound pieces instead of two different type of music ...hehehehehe

HA HA HA!

You and the whole rest of the world!!!

Um.... Does anyone remember the requirements for each round of the last competition? Were they same as this next one (Waltz, Mazurka, Polonaise)?
Perhaps I could prepare for the one in another three years!

Exactly the same but with a different 'layout.'
The polonaise was in the 1st round, waltz in the 2nd, and two mazurkas in the finals.

I don't think we can assume it will always be similar, but the great thing is that it's good to know such pieces anyway, right?

And yes indeed, the competitions can serve as great motivators for us to work on our repertoire. It can help to have something to shoot for!

BTW, you sure you don't want to try for this one, next year?

Wow, I wish I was able to enter such a competition. It looks like a lot of fun! But it seems like an age restriction says otherwise for me. Maybe I will have to aim for one in three years too, but even then I don't think I'll be old enough unless they change the rules.

Thanks Mark for the info.
I would if I have the repertoire for it, but I don't and unlikely would be ready by the time applications close. I don't know any substantial polonaise :P

When I stumbled upon info on the last Chopin Amateur over a year after the fact I was thinking about preparing for the next one, but ended up preparing repertoire for Fort Worth instead, as there was no indication there would be a 2nd Chopin Amateur.

So, maybe 2015 if they still hold it then
Not having much hopes given what we just heard about Berlin IPAC.

Jibbers: It doesn't have to be a "substantial" polonaise. I mean, to me they're all substantial but I know what you mean. Last time people played a very wide selection of them, the variety was wonderful, and playing one of the 'lesser' ones didn't seem to hurt anybody.

BTW, I'm pretty sure I know you and I doubt you'd have any trouble pulling together the repertoire in time for this one if you wanted to.

Mark_C: Yes you know me. I gave that away, didn't I? lol!

Thanks for the encouragement
Not confident about having a program together for this one, or having the time off to go.
I could probably play the Military Polonaise and the Minute Waltz and.. not sure which Mazurkas!?!?!

More troubled with what to fill the rest of the program, which needs work on top of the (currently non-existent) Chopin pieces.

If before the apps deadline i feel I may have a program ready, I might apply and if real life/work stops me from going then so be it! We'll see.....!

Jibbers - you played Chopin Fantasie Op 49 in FW, didn't you?

Keep in mind that you can still change your program at the last minute, before walking out on stage.

^^ (bingo!) ^^

Thanks Mark!

LisztAddict: thanks for the tip/reminder!

Deadline is coming right up (April 1). I hope LisztAddict will be coming again, and that perhaps some of our other members are applying!!

Mark--

ChopinAddict or LisztAddict? (Or both?)

Thank you Andy! I corrected it!
Although y'know, at this event LisztAddict sort of becomes "ChopinAddict"....

That would be something to see!

I see happily that you reconsidered!

Maybe next time around I'll be ready for this ... good luck to everyone.

Just keeping this thread warm....

We have (at least) 5 members participating.

Schedule
Preliminary round: Sept. 11-12
Semi-finals: Sept. 13
Finals: Sept. 14
"Winners concert": Sept. 15

So excited for this... my plane leaves Saturday evening and I will arrive Sunday. This will be my 2nd trip ever to Europe.

This is what I'm playing in the prelim on 2012.09.12 @ 6pm (9am Pacific)

Berceuse Op. 57 in D-flat major
Waltz Op. 64, No. 2 in c# minor
Waltz Op. 42 in Ab major

Challenging first piece! (For most people, not particularly for you.)

And we could say the same about Barcarolle, which I'll be starting with.

These pieces are what we might call 'deceptively' challenging -- they seem 'easier' than a lot of other pieces, but they really aren't. Not unlike how a lot of people think Mozart is 'easier' than whatever, as we keep seeing....

I am in Warsaw now and visited the society and the university this afternoon. All are very friendly and it will obviously be a fantastic week. I am so excited to be playing in the homeland of Chopin.