This week is the Young Artists Division. I do notice quite a few big names in this division. Anna Han seems to be winning about everything lately, and Aimi Kobayashi who seems to be gaining a pretty big performing and recording career over in Japan, as well as many many others.

Young Artists Gina Bachauer Competition Live Streaming:
http://new.bachauer.com/competitors/performances-streaming-video.html


Schedule (Mountain Standard Time):
YOUNG ARTISTS COMPETITION | JUNE 25-30, 2012

TUESDAY Round One
11:00AM—12:45PM & 1:15PM—4:40PM & 7:00PM—9:30PM

WEDNESDAY Round One
11:00AM—12:45PM & 1:15PM—4:40PM & 7:00PM—9:30PM

THURSDAY Round Two
9:00AM—12:30PM & 1:30PM—5:20PM & 7:00PM—10:30PM

FRIDAY Round Two
9:00AM—12:30PM & 1:30PM—5:20PM & 7:00PM—10:30PM
10:30PM Alink-Argerich Competitor Celebration & Announcement of Finalists

SATURDAY Final Round and Closing Gala
7:00PM—10:00PM


Competitors:
http://new.bachauer.com/competitors/competitors/young-artists.html

Watch out for my friend Tom Hicks

He is great as well! They all are. I had the privilege of watching them all warm up yesterday as they tested out the piano. Great playing!!

They just posted a more accurate list in case anyone wanted to watch anyone specific--here are their exact times for first round.

http://new.bachauer.com/component/conten...le-round-i.html

I'm particularly looking forward to his performance of Prokofiev 1st sonata. He's a demon in that piece :p.

I believe this piece is on his programme too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOOtHu6BktQ

It's not that often anymore that I hear a piece I never heard before and am almost overwhelmed by its beauty. I can only remember that happening a handful of times in the last decade. So thanks for posting that Ireland piece. Sounds very Debussyish to me.

It's a shame that the video for the competition is so horrible. Might as well just be an audio transmission.

Ireland is often called the english impressionist

That's what I stated in the other thread too... I am listening right now, but it is impossible to see anything. The camera is very far and the light on the stage too bright... Still... it is nice to listen.

Hicks just played left hand Chopin/Godowsky op. 10, no. 3. It seems odd that one would play this left hand piece in a competition. It is very difficult to voice it beautifully with only one hand.

His piano concerto used to be popular at The Proms, long before my time. For shame: it is a wonderful piece of music, and hardly known at all outside of the UK.

His setting in F of the Anglican canticles is done frequently at Evensong, but that seems to be about it.

He told me that it's easier, because the thumb always has the melody. It's one of the few Godowsky etudes I really like. He played it in a competition last month that I was also in, and he won haha.

Wish him the best.

Your friend is amazing, debrucey! I have to say I personally thought the Godowsky/Chopin was his weakest piece, but what do I know :P The Ireland and Prokofiev were great, especially because I haven't heard either piece performed often. The level of this competition is really high though, and much more consistently so than the Junior competition last week IMO. I liked Aimi Kobayashi's Appassionata too, though it's true her "Youtube reputation" is probably overblown. I wasn't blown away by Anna Han, but that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I don't like the Liszt Danse Macabre transcription.

I only saw the girl who was on before Tom so far, and I wasn't impressed at all lol.
It does seem to be a very high standard though. I really hope he gets through.

Tom did great! I was kind of bored by Anna's Haydn, and Aimi did pretty well on the Appasionata. I felt her second movement she had a hard time counting, but then again, most people do, so I guess we'll see how it plays out! They cut from 32 straight down to 6, so who knows how this will play out for the finals.

Here's the live UStream page where you can post comments like the Van Cliburn had at the Amateur's Competition last year.

The camera is now on the stage and you can actually see the performers.

The son of one of our members played this afternoon!

Does anyone have the link to the schedule of individual performances for today? Is there a list of the semi finalists somewhere?

What was the last piece played 2 minutes ago?(It sounded like a transcription of some of a jazz song)

You'll need both of these links open and cross-reference them:

http://gina.bachauer.com/component/conte...e-round-ii.html

http://gina.bachauer.com/competitors/competitors/young-artists.html

Find out who's playing at any given time, then head over to the bios for their repertoire.

Thanks!

It"s called Jazzy(from Three Piano Moods) by Copland. Sounds like a takeoff on a Gershwin song.

Thanks!

The three moods by Copland was performed by Zhu Wang. Among all competitors, I think he is the most musical one. The problem with him is that his pieces are far on the easy side relative to those of the other competitors.

BTW, if Wang gets into the final round, he is the only person playing a Mozart concerto. How refreshing!

It takes guts (or something else) to play Mozart's Fantasia in D minor in a competition like this ...

Bolai Cao is doing just that.

Aimi Kobayashi just played Scriabin Piano Sonata No. 2 and Chopin Piano Sonata No. 2. As usual, her playing was sensitive and beautiful, particularlly in those slow movements. But she seemed to have some issue on her right hand for fast movements in terms of voicing. Her shoulders also seemed quite high, and that could be the reason that the sound for melody she was looking for was not there. Anyhow, her playing of big romantic pieces was very satisfactory relative to that of Beethoven op. 57.

Agreed! I personally think he pulled it off really well and has a real shot at winning.



Interesting you say that - I actually thought her op. 57 was pretty good, and was more disappointed in her performances today (but then again, I had higher expectations for her romantic works). But I'm with you in that I would be somewhat surprised (pleasantly so) if she made it into the finals.

Thomas Hicks is playing now - I wasn't a huge fan of his op. 109, but the Shchedrin (sp?) he's playing now is interesting and unusual.

From what I've heard (I missed most of the performances yesterday), I would expect Alex Beyer, Bolai Cao, and Anna Han to be among the finalists. Thoughts?

He gave the UK premiere of that piece.

I like Bolai Cai's playing a lot. Some of his Chopin op. 10 are very musical and, more important, with his own personal touch, and not just about speed.

Anna Han is quite solid and steady, and that is good in a competition. Just not quite sure about her personality in her music making.

All I can say is

I .... am .... so .... SICK .... of that commercial!

Although now I seem to be getting an Obama advertisement is Spanish. Go figure.

+127368172

On a more "serious" note, currently I would guess that Bolai Cai, Alex Beyer, Anna Han, and Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner will be in the finals. Others I liked include Yuchong Wu, Thomas Hicks, Leonardo Colafelice, Annie Zhou, and Aimi Kobayashi (I might be biased towards the latter two thanks to YT performances though).

EDIT: If people are still following, the six finalists are: Leonardo Colafelice - 1st mvt of Rach 3
Bolai Cao - 1st mvt of Tchaikovsky
Aimi Kobayashi - 1st mvt of Chopin 1
Jung Eun Kim - 1st mvt of Beethoven 4
Fantee Jones - 1st mvt of Rach 2
Mackenzie Melemed - 1st mvt of Rach 2

I was surprised, but generally pleased. Fantee Jones I was bored by, but I liked all of the rest, though during Jung Eun Kim and Mackenzie Melemed's performances I was distracted and didn't check who the pianists were.

Among them, I like Bolai Cai the best. But you just never know about the concerto round, particularly, Aimi Kobayashi has performed Chopin 1 like for a century already.

The Finals have just started.

Has anyone listened to Colafelice's concerto?

WINNERS OF THE 2012 GINA BACHAUER INTERNATIONAL YOUNG ARTISTS PIANO COMPETITION

FIRST Leonardo Colafelice • Age 16, from Italy, performed Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3 in D Minor

SECOND Bolai Cao • Age 15, from China/Canada, performed Tchaikovsky's Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor

THIRD Aimi Kobayashi • Age 16, from Japan, performed Chopin’s Concerto No. 1 in E Minor

FOURTH Jung Eun Kim • Age 18, from Korea, performed Beethoven’s Concerto No. 4 in G Major

FIFTH Melemed Mackenzie • Age 17, from USA, Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 in C Minor

SIXTH Fantee Jones • Age 15, from USA. performing Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 2 in C Minor