PianoArts’ North American Piano Competition and Festival

×

Expand

Photo via PianoArts - Facebook

PianoArts Competition and Music Festival

PianoArts Competition and Music Festival at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music

PianoArts, founded in 1995, is a non-profit organization whose mission is “to develop innovative ways to foster appreciation and performance of classical music.” The biennial competition, started in 1999, is one way to meet this goal. It is open to pianists ages 17 - 22 currently residing or studying in North America. The competition and festival are in partnership with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO).

The festival begins at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 27 at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music with a Prelude Concert by Lucas Amory, first-place winner in the 2024 North American Competition. Amory will be joined by MSO’s Jay Shankar to play Brahms’ Second Clarinet Sonata. Debussy’s Twelve Etudes is also part of the program.

An integral part of the competition is verbal communication with the audience about the music. I asked Amory if he could share a few words about the impact this aspect of the competition has had on him.

“Much of the pianist's responsibility in preparing so much repertoire for a competition deals with the historical element, such as knowing how to program a well-balanced program culled from different eras or understanding how different ways of compositional notation have evolved,” he said. “However, the act of speaking about one's program allows the pianist to ask themselves: ‘What context could help add a layer of meaning to the experience of present-day audiences?’”

This helps brings audiences into the mindsets of the performers. “I've always found audiences to be warmer and more openly appreciative in recitals where I've added some speaking, and that's because the simple act of verbal communication is an icebreaker that allows them to be comfortable in expressing those things to me,” he continued.

All the semi-finalists give 45-minute solo recitals as well as performing duos with MSO musicians. The solo recitals of the competition will take place on May 28 and 29 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Wisconsin Conservatory. Pianists Mohan Jia, Yoav Roth, Duy Vu, and Marie Wurtz will perform on May 28. On May 29, Evelina Kleczek, Alex Nam, Quang Vo, and Adrian Zaragoza will take their turn at the keyboard. Their 45-minute solo recitals include compositions from the Baroque era to recent works. In addition, they will talk about a work written after 1950 by a North American composer.

The solo performance round will be followed by the duo competition where each of the semifinalists will offer a 45-minute recital with collaborating artists from the MSO including violinists Elliot Lee, Dylana Leung and Kyungah Oh, and cellists Madeleine Kabat and Scott Tisdel. These take place on May 30 from 10 am to 5:30 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.

The following day, May 31, they will all participate in the competition’s Lecture- Recital program where they will each perform a 30-minute lecture-recital of the first movements of a concerto, demonstrating their communication skills alongside their mastery of the concerto. Stefanie Jacob and Michael Rector perform the orchestral reductions on a second piano. The program is from 12:30 to 5:15 p.m. at the Fine Arts Recital Hall on the UWM campus.

As part of the festival there will be a Concert of the Masters on June 1 at the Conservatory. This year jury pianist Simone Dinnerstein will perform Bach’s Keyboard Concerto No. 2 with an MSO string quartet and jury pianist Christopher O’Riley will play selections from the Well-Tempered Clavier and arrangements of jazz standards, including Billy Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge.” 

The competition culminates in a Grand Finale where the three finalists will play a concerto with the MSO and conductor William Eddins at the Bradley Symphony Center, June 2, 4:30 to 10 p.m.

Additional information about PianoArts, the festival and tickets can be found at https://pianoarts.org/