14th Annual Chopin Piano Competition
(Watch the Winners' Concert)
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Competition Rules
& Details The Annual Chopin Piano Competition event allows serious piano students throughout the region to showcase their skill. The Competition is judged by a panel of accomplished musicians and will be held at 250 Old Maxwell Road in Latham.
Contestants perform one piece composed by Chopin, with Apprentice and Master level students selecting and additional composition from an approved repertoire. Winners and runners-up will perform for the community in a concert on Sunday, September 20. Winners also receive cash prizes: The Chopin Novice winner is awarded $100; the Chopin Apprentice level winner, $500; and the Chopin Master level winner, $1000. Runners-up receive $50, $100, and $250, respectively. Use of the Steinway Concert Grand piano is being donated by Artist Pianos in Latham. The awards will be presented at the Winners’ Concert and a reception will follow, featuring gourmet desserts. Competition Rules and Details:
Chopin Novice May choose any Chopin composition Chopin Apprentice Participant must play two compositions: 1) any Chopin composition of choice, and 2) one from the following list: Mazurkas:
Chopin Master
Participant must be at least 15 years old and play two compositions: 1) any Chopin composition of choice, and 2) one Etude in either Op. 10 or Op. 25 (Excluding Op. 10, No. 3 and Op. 25, No. 7) |
Adjudicators
Paul Wyse
“…a musician of uncommon perception, possessing lots of facility and fire.” — The Miami Herald Pianist Paul Wyse’s concert appearances have spanned the United States, Canada, Central America, Europe, and New Zealand. Highlights include premiere performances for the Royal Family of Monaco, concertos with the New World Symphony, the Gettysburg Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of Northern New York, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra, and the Peabody Chamber Orchestra. He has made radio appearances on WGBH Boston, the Australian Broadcasting Company, the New Zealand Broadcasting Company, and recently appeared on New York Public Television performing Sonatas for Violin/Cello and Piano of L.V. Beethoven. He has collaborated in performance with such greats as Michael Tilson Thomas, Vladimir Feltsman, Carter Brey, José-Luiz Garcia, Paula Robison, and in the Spring of 2007 appeared with the Crane Symphony Orchestra with Katherine Jacobson-Fleisher under the baton of her husband Leon Fleisher. On the piano Faculty of the Crane School of Music of State University of New York (SUNY) at Potsdam, Mr. Wyse has presented various lecture topics and Master classes at The Longy School of Music, The Peabody Conservatory, The World Piano Pedagogy Conference, Westfield State College, The University of Arkansas, Holyoke College and has been on the Jury of the Simone Belsky Competition, the Empire State Competition, The New York State MTNA Competition, The Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, and serves as the Artistic Director for the Julia Crane International Piano Competition. His teachers include Leon Fleisher, Marc Durand and Veronica Jochum and he holds degrees from the Peabody Institute, The New England Conservatory, and The University of Montreal. Also, a trained visual artist, he has painted portraits that hang in North America's finest collections including the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institute, the Steinway Hall historical portrait collection, and the House of Commons of Canada. His list of notable portraits include, pop legend Billy Joel, Kennedy Center Award winning conductor and pianist Leon Fleisher, 34th Speaker of the House of Commons Peter Milliken, and Harry Connick Jr. In 2015, he will become the first Steinway Artist to have designed and hand painted a Steinway art case (model D) piano, on which he will perform as a recitalist in the major cities of the world. For more information visit www.wysefineart.com. François Germain
Pianist FRANÇOIS GERMAIN has performed extensively in Europe, the United States and Canada as soloist and accompanist in such venues as the American Church in Paris, Steinway Hall in New York, the Schloss Mirabell in Salzburg, and the Atheneum in Athens. He has also given Masterclasses and workshops on French vocal repertoire in institutions such as the Longy School of Music of Bard College and the Cleveland Institute of Music. Dr. Germain is currently Assistant Professor at the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York in Potsdam, where he is the coordinator of the piano area and also teaches vocal coaching and accompanying. Since 2009, Dr. Germain has been on the Faculty of the University of Miami Frost School of Music Summer Program in Salzburg, Austria, one of Europe's most respected programs of its kind for singers and vocal pianists. His Principal teachers include Marc Durand, Jean Saulnier, Bernard Flavigny and Clara Woringer-Kastler, and he has taken part in master classes with Boris Berman, Thomas Grubb, Roger Vignoles, and Malcolm Martineau. |
Guest Artist
Michael J. Rogers 2004 Chopin Master Winner 
A native of the Capital Disctrict, Michael J. Rogers has been praised by the Times Union, and the Hudson Register Star for his “big, romantic technique” and his ”rare sensitivity to style”. Former protégé of Vladimir Pleshakov and Elena Winther, Michael has performed at such venues as the Tanglewood Ozawa Hall, Troy Savings Bank Musical Hall, and the Doctorow Center at the Catskill Mountain Foundation for the Arts, among many others. Michael earned his Bachelors and Master’s Degrees in Piano Performance at the Conservatory of Music at SUNY Purchase, where he studied under Stephanie Brown, and Paul Ostrovsky. Michael has also coached with such artists as Steven Lubin, Ann Schein, Mark Evans, and members of the Grammy award winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Julia Lichten, and Carmit Zori. Additionally, he’s had the honor of performing for Governor Cuomo and other NYS legislators at the 2011 SOMOS Conference.
A prior winner of the CDCYM Chopin Master Award, the Louis Defeo Parillo Competition, and the Ithaca College Competition, Michael has returned to the Capital District, where he teaches privately, and is active as a chamber musician, soloist, and vocal accompanist. |