Competition News

Par/by Hélène Boucher & Crystal Chan / July 8, 2009

Célébration du Prix d’Europe : Une exceptionnelle cuvée marquant la 98e édition

Les grands vainqueurs du 98e Prix d’Europe sont maintenant connus. C’est la violoniste Marie-Ève Poupart qui fut récompensée du Prix d’Europe 2009. Le guitariste Marc-Olivier Lamontagne remporta le Prix John Newmark alors que le Prix TD Canada Trust fut remis à la pianiste Justine Pelletier. Le Prix Claire Charbonneau-Clerk fut décerné au pianiste Antoine Joubert, le Prix Béatrice-Kennedy-Bourbeau au hautboïste Vincent Boilard, le Prix Guy Soucie au violoniste Dominic Guilbault et le Prix du Centre de musique canadienne au pianiste Benoît Gagnon. Grâce aux bourses liées à ces prix, chacun des musiciens pourra perfectionner son jeu. Marie-Ève Poupart a opté pour l’école américaine Peabody. La lauréate du Prix d’Europe obtient également une série de cinq récitals dont un avec les Jeunesses Musicales du Canada. Marc-Olivier Lamontagne étudie déjà à Paris et pourra y prolonger son apprentissage.

Une nouvelle catégorie apparaissait en 2009, le Prix d’Europe de composition, accompagné d’une bourse de 10 000 $ octroyée par le Prix Père Fernand Lindsay. Maxime McKinley remporta le tout premier Prix Père Fernand Lindsay. Le Prix d’Europe de composition sera octroyé à tous les deux ans. HB

Cliburn Competition Awards Tie for First

The Thirteenth Edition of the International Piano Competition has awarded a tied first place to 19-year-old Haochen Zhang of China and 20-year-old Nobuyuki Tsujii of Japan. Zhang was the youngest participant in the competition. He made his recital debut at the Shanghai Music Hall at age five and had performed with an orchestra by age six. A Curtis Institute of Music graduate, Zhang has played in numerous international competitions and orchestras. Blind since birth, Tsujii made his concert debut as a 12-year-old at Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. He released a highly acclaimed album of piano music in 2007. He is currently studying at the Ueno Gakuen College of Music in Tokyo. CC

Ray Chen Wins the Queen Elisabeth Competition

The youngest competitor at this year’s competition took the top prize: Taiwan-born and Australian-raised Ray Chen is only 20 but will receive 20,000 euros and the ‘Huggins’ Stradivarius violin on loan for a period of three years. The violinist was also awarded the Klara-Canvas Prize of the Public. Chen has been playing the violin since the age of four. In 1998, the teenager was selected to perform in the Nagano Winter Olympics’ opening concert. In the 10 years since, Chen has performed splendidly at top international competitions and studied with some of the best teachers in the world. He is currently studying with Aaron Rosand at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. The QEC is a founding member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions and is considered to be one of the world’s most prestigious and difficult competitions. CC

Cardiff Singer of the World

Russian Soprano Ekaterina Shcherbachenko was crowned the winner in one of the world's most prestigious opera competitions, the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. Shcherbachenko graduated from the Moscow State Conservatory in 2005. Italian tenor Giordano Luca won the Audience Prize. Canada was represented by baritone Etienne Dupuis. CC

José Iturbi Music International Competition

Twenty-nine-year-old Canadian-Ukrainian Dmitri Levkovich took home First Prize and the Spanish Prize of the 2009 Piano Competition.