24 Canadian pianists ready to compete in prestigious Honens International Piano Competition

The world’Äôs next generation of concert pianists take part in Honens Stage One

Stage One of the Sixth Honens International Piano Competition gets underway with recitals in Calgary (March 21), New York (March 26-31), and Munich (April 25’Äì27). Ninety-three concert pianists hailing from 26 countries will each perform a 40-minute solo recital before a live audience in one of the three concert venues: Calgary’Äôs Rozsa Centre, New York City’Äôs Peter Norton Symphony Space or Munich’Äôs Gasteig.

A total of 24 Canadians will participate in the competition: Michael Berkovsky (Toronto ON), Maxim Bernard (Quebec City QC), Tiffany Butt (North Vancouver BC), Sheng Cai (Toronto ON), Sonia Chan (Toronto ON), Tina Chong (Banff AB), Dmitri Levkovich (Toronto ON), Ang Li (Toronto ON),
Scott Meek (Winnipeg MB), Christopher Miranda (Mississauga ON), Eldon Ng (Toronto ON),
Ilya Poletaev (Toronto ON), Sergei Saratovsky (Vancouver BC), Elizabeth Schumann (LaSalle QC),
Isaac Seo (Toronto ON), Benjamin Smith (Chatham ON), Jean-Philippe Sylvestre (Ste-Julie QC),
Wayne Weng (Vancouver BC), Daniel Wnukowski (Windsor ON), Irene Wong (Mississauga ON),
Todd Yaniw (Edmonton AB), Zhenya Yesmanovich (Toronto ON), Avan Yu (Vancouver BC), and Darrett Zusko (Windsor ON).

All performances will be recorded on digital video by the Honens recording team, which consists of an audio-visual engineer and a Honens representative, who ensure that the conditions are as uniform as possible and note the state of instruments, the acoustical qualities of the performance rooms, and any unusual circumstances. The Stage One performances will be reviewed by the First Jury in June and 21 pianists will be selected to advance to the Quarterfinals in Calgary. Members of the First Jury are Angela Cheng, Chairwoman (Canada), Katherine Chi (First Laureate 2000 Honens International Competition; Canada), Matthias Kirschnereit (Germany), and Ronan O’ÄôHora (United Kingdom).

In Canada, Stage One recitals will take place at the University of Calgary’Äôs Rozsa Centre on Saturday, March 21 at 10 am, 2 pm and 7 pm, and feature performances by twelve pianists from seven countries. Tickets to each session are $10 or $25 for a day-pass and are available through the Honens Box Office by calling 403 299 0140 or online at honens.com. For a detailed performance schedule visit honens.com.

The triennial Honens International Piano Competition, founded in 1992, is ranked among the world’Äôs greatest music competitions. It is unique in its mission to find the ’Äúcomplete artist’Äù ’Äì one who possesses technical mastery as well as expressiveness in a wide range of musical forms and styles, and whose music-making possesses imagination, innovation and relevance in today’Äôs world. The Sixth Honens Competition takes place in Calgary, October 22 to November 6, 2009. It is presented by Nexen Inc. and supported by Steinway & Sons, Irene Besse Keyboards Ltd., MacLeod Dixon LLP, Enbridge Inc., and TransAlta. For more information about Honens, please visit honens.com.