Eleventh International Chopin Youth Competition
Saturday and Sunday
October 26 and 27, 2019
Kawai Piano Gallery
5800 Richmond Ave
Houston, TX 77057
Saturday and Sunday
October 26 and 27, 2019
Kawai Piano Gallery
5800 Richmond Ave
Houston, TX 77057
Results
Congratulations to all our players! The weekend was filled with talented pianists playing a huge array of Chopin repertoire, including some rarely heard pieces. Of the 124 players in the Semi-Finals, 22 were passed to the Final Round. There were many well-deserved Honorable Mentions and other awards. The Final Round was a stunning display of great playing. The final results are given below.
Our thanks go out to all the players, their families and teachers. Well done!
Elementary Awards
Medalists
112 Chris Hao, Waltz in D-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 1, SILVER MEDAL
119 Josephine Chow, Variations (Sur un Air National-allemende) in E-Major, Op. Posth., SILVER MEDAL
127 Ashley Kim, Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2, BRONZE MEDAL
128 Takaaki Suzuki, Nocturne in B-flat minor, Op. 9, No. 1, SILVER MEDAL
130 Hannah Court, Mazurka in A-flat Major, Op. 24, No. 3, BRONZE MEDAL
131 Brayden Cheang, Etude in G-sharp minor, Op. 25, No. 6, Waltz in G-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 1, GOLD MEDAL
Honorable Mention
106 Hiroaki Suzuki
107 Charles Han
108 Arthur Zhou
110 Shriram Rajagopal
113 Ichiro Lin
114 Zide Chen
117 Alexis Chen
123 Enyang Jiang
125 Daniel Pan
126 Michelle Hung
Outstanding Nocturne
120 Justin Liu
131 Brayden Cheang
Best of the Youngest
102 Irene Liu
121 Erika Wang
Jan Ekier Award
The Best Performance of the Most Difficult Piece
131 Brayden Cheang
Junior Awards
Medalists
202 Julianne Choe, Rondo in C minor, Op. 1, BRONZE MEDAL
223 Viet Ha, Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2, GOLD MEDAL
229 Harrison Yu, Impromptu in A-flat Major, Op. 29, BRONZE MEDAL
230 Justin Sun, Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2, SILVER MEDAL
232 Victor Cai, Etude in F minor, Op. 25, No. 2, Etude in G-flat Major, Op. 10, No. 5, SILVER MEDAL
236 Elaine See Toh, Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1, GOLD MEDAL
242 Stephanie Ma, Rondo in E-flat Major, Op. 16, BRONZE MEDAL
247 Jason Nguyen, Rondo a la Mazur in F Major, Op. 5, BRONZE MEDAL
Honorable Mention
206 Elizabeth Yao
207 Alexander Zhong
216 Eric Li
217 Sophia Kuo
221 Michelle Huang
224 Matthew Chien
239 Angelina Tan
243 Tiffany Guan
244 Eileen Chen
251 Min Kim
Outstanding Nocturne
223 Viet Ha
236 Elaine See Toh
Senior Awards
Medalists
306 Harry Sha, Nocturne in B Major, Op. 9, No. 3, SILVER MEDAL
307 Sonia Zhang, Polonaise in C-sharp minor, Op. 26, No. 1, BRONZE MEDAL
309 Sam Goldfarb, Scherzo in B-flat minor, Op. 31, GOLD MEDAL
315 Ned Yu, Etude in B minor, Op. 25, No. 10, BRONZE MEDAL
317 Alex Hu, Etude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 11, SILVER MEDAL
324 Kellen Cao, Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1, SILVER MEDAL
332 Erin Fitzgerald, Sonata in B minor, Op. 58, Movement 1, BRONZE MEDAL
336 Yufni Haenisch, Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35, Grave – Doppio movimento, BRONZE MEDAL
Honorable Mention
303 Padt Skawratananond
305 Scarlet-Emma Tallman
311 Sophie Lee
318 Sarah Qi
320 Michael Chung
321 Saranna Zhang
327 Will Newman
334 Alton Shen
337 Everett Adkins
339 Peter Zong
Outstanding Nocturne
318 Sarah Qi
339 Peter Zong
Jan Ekier Award
The Best Performance of the Most Difficult Piece
309 Sam Goldfarb
Semi-Final Round
We are pleased to announce that we received over 140 applicants - a record - with an absolutely outstanding level of playing. As such, we will have a record number of performances over the weekend: 124 contestants will play. To accommodate this large number of performances, we will be operating two performance rooms throughout the weekend. Unlike previous years, we will have the Juniors and Seniors playing Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning through afternoon. The Finals will be Sunday late afternoon.
The list of Semi-Finalists with a schedule is shown below. In general, contestants are ordered from youngest to oldest. We have tried our best to accommodate the requested scheduling needs. However, we have limited flexibility in adjusting the schedule due to the large number of players.
Please arrive at least 30 minutes before the performance time and check in at the front desk. Contestants will be given an identification number, program and certificate. Contestants will be allowed a warm-up time of 10 minutes.
It is NOT necessary for the contestants to bring their sheet music.
At the performance, contestants should begin playing without trying out the piano, i.e. no scales or chords before playing.
Contestants may play their pieces in any order they wish.
The Finalists will be announced at the end of deliberations after the performance of the category participants, as shown below. The Final round will take place on Sunday afternoon at 5:00PM. The awards ceremony will follow after the judges deliberations. All award winners, such as Honorable Mentions, must attend the Final Round in order to collect their award. Attendees will have a chance to win prizes in a raffle in which everyone is eligible.
All performances, including the Finals, are free and open to the public.
We congratulate all of our Semi-Finalists and look forward to hearing these performances.
Elementary (Saturday Morning, Room 1)
Andrew Zhao 9:00 AM
Carl Rubly 9:07 AM
Nathan Wang 9:16 AM
Charles Han 9:24 AM
Michelle Cheng 9:31 AM
Thomas Liew 9:37 AM
Ichiro Lin 9:43 AM
Sheila Dickinson 9:51 AM
Alexis Chen 10:09 AM
Josephine Chow 10:21 AM
Erika Wang 10:33 AM
Enyang Jiang 10:42 AM
Daniel Pan 11:05 AM
Ashley Kim 11:13 AM
Owen Sun 11:22 AM
Brayden Cheang 11:28 AM
Elementary (Saturday Morning, Room 2)
Irene Liu 9:00 AM
Hannah Nguyen 9:10 AM
Hiroaki Suzuki 9:17 AM
Arthur Zhou 9:24 AM
Shriram Rajagopal 9:36 AM
Chris Hao 9:43 AM
Zide Chen 9:50 AM
Richard Chen 10:08 AM
Lydia Luo 10:17 AM
Justin Liu 10:25 AM
Cynthia Kuo-Lo 10:34 AM
Feliks Lin 10:43 AM
Michelle Hung 10:52 AM
Takaaki Suzuki 11:11 AM
Hannah Court 11:25 AM
Michelle Liu 11:34 AM
Announcement of Elementary Finalists: 12:00PM
Junior (Saturday Afternoon, Room 2)
Daniel Chen 1:00 PM
Julianne Choe 1:09 PM
Michael Shi Huang 1:24 PM
Olivia Tu 1:33 PM
Vincent Cao 1:42 PM
Elizabeth Yao 1:50 PM
Alexander Zhong 2:10 PM
Taylor Park 2:17 PM
Andrew Maxwell Liu 2:28 PM
Emma Chung 2:37 PM
Chloe Luo 2:47 PM
Yixuan Chen 3:09 PM
Sophie Cai 3:18 PM
Aien Du 3:27 PM
Princeton Nguyen 3:34 PM
Eric Li 3:41 PM
Sophia Kuo 3:49 PM
David Liu 4:06 PM
Joseph Zhou 4:14 PM
Rebecca Luo 4:25 PM
Michelle Huang 4:37 PM
Kevin Chen 4:47 PM
Viet Ha 5:05 PM
Matthew Chien 5:14 PM
Daniel Robbins 5:25 PM
Ashley Jun 5:35 PM
Noah Court 5:52 PM
Junior (Sunday Morning and Afternoon, Room 2)
Zoë Lelevich 9:00 AM
Harrison Yu 9:07 AM
Justin Sun 9:17 AM
Katharine Yao 9:35 AM
Victor Cai 9:45 AM
Audrey Wang 9:56 AM
Fu Chen 10:13 AM
Song Yue David Li 10:25 AM
Elaine See Toh 10:35 AM
Deborah Chung 10:47 AM
Richard Wang 10:55 AM
Angelina Tan 11:13 AM
Justin Kwon 11:24 AM
Shonn Huang 11:33 AM
Stephanie Ma 11:42 AM
(break)
Tiffany Guan 1:00 PM
Eileen Chen 1:10 PM
Timothy Guan 1:25 PM
Manyaa Bhatia 1:36 PM
Jason Nguyen 1:43 PM
Quin Jamison 2:06 PM
Yuxi Lu 2:17 PM
Raymond Xu 2:26 PM
Min Kim 2:36 PM
Announcement of Junior Finalists: Sunday, 3:00PM
Senior (Saturday Afternoon, Room 1)
Ellen Foreman 1:00 PM
Jayden Bautista 1:13 PM
Padt Skawratananond 1:25 PM
Dean Wincentsen 1:40 PM
Scarlet-Emma Tallman 1:47 PM
Harry Sha 2:12 PM
Sonia Zhang 2:23 PM
Michael Wu 2:38 PM
Sam Goldfarb 2:53 PM
Eric S. Huang 3:21 PM
Sophie Lee 3:31 PM
Jinqiu Wei 3:47 PM
Hari Rajagopal 3:59 PM
Miette Rodriguez 4:19 PM
Ned Yu 4:30 PM
John Dong 4:42 PM
Alex Hu 4:52 PM
Sarah Qi 5:01 PM
Ryan Chen 5:21 PM
Michael Chung 5:33 PM
Saranna Zhang 5:44 PM
Senior (Sunday Morning and Afternoon, Room 1)
Mei Dickinson 9:00 AM
Owen Zhang 9:10 AM
Kellen Cao 9:21 AM
Fanying Tang 9:39 AM
Zoe Ehrlich 9:49 AM
Will Newman 10:10 AM
Savanah Antwine 10:21 AM
Luke Vizzini 10:34 AM
Alice Tian 10:44 AM
Scott Crowe 11:06 AM
Erin Fitzgerald 11:20 AM
Joshua Chiang 11:37 AM
(break)
Alton Shen 1:00 PM
Shadt Skawratananond 1:13 PM
Yufni Haenisch 1:23 PM
Everett Adkins 1:37 PM
Daniel Ting 2:01 PM
Peter Zong 2:17 PM
Thomas Do 2:27 PM
Abigail Bradshaw 2:45 PM
Announcement of Senior Finalists: Sunday, 3:30PM
Final Round and Awards Ceremony
Sunday 5:00 to 8:00PM
Congratulations to all our players! The weekend was filled with talented pianists playing a huge array of Chopin repertoire, including some rarely heard pieces. Of the 124 players in the Semi-Finals, 22 were passed to the Final Round. There were many well-deserved Honorable Mentions and other awards. The Final Round was a stunning display of great playing. The final results are given below.
Our thanks go out to all the players, their families and teachers. Well done!
Elementary Awards
Medalists
112 Chris Hao, Waltz in D-flat Major, Op. 64, No. 1, SILVER MEDAL
119 Josephine Chow, Variations (Sur un Air National-allemende) in E-Major, Op. Posth., SILVER MEDAL
127 Ashley Kim, Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2, BRONZE MEDAL
128 Takaaki Suzuki, Nocturne in B-flat minor, Op. 9, No. 1, SILVER MEDAL
130 Hannah Court, Mazurka in A-flat Major, Op. 24, No. 3, BRONZE MEDAL
131 Brayden Cheang, Etude in G-sharp minor, Op. 25, No. 6, Waltz in G-flat Major, Op. 70, No. 1, GOLD MEDAL
Honorable Mention
106 Hiroaki Suzuki
107 Charles Han
108 Arthur Zhou
110 Shriram Rajagopal
113 Ichiro Lin
114 Zide Chen
117 Alexis Chen
123 Enyang Jiang
125 Daniel Pan
126 Michelle Hung
Outstanding Nocturne
120 Justin Liu
131 Brayden Cheang
Best of the Youngest
102 Irene Liu
121 Erika Wang
Jan Ekier Award
The Best Performance of the Most Difficult Piece
131 Brayden Cheang
Junior Awards
Medalists
202 Julianne Choe, Rondo in C minor, Op. 1, BRONZE MEDAL
223 Viet Ha, Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2, GOLD MEDAL
229 Harrison Yu, Impromptu in A-flat Major, Op. 29, BRONZE MEDAL
230 Justin Sun, Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2, SILVER MEDAL
232 Victor Cai, Etude in F minor, Op. 25, No. 2, Etude in G-flat Major, Op. 10, No. 5, SILVER MEDAL
236 Elaine See Toh, Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1, GOLD MEDAL
242 Stephanie Ma, Rondo in E-flat Major, Op. 16, BRONZE MEDAL
247 Jason Nguyen, Rondo a la Mazur in F Major, Op. 5, BRONZE MEDAL
Honorable Mention
206 Elizabeth Yao
207 Alexander Zhong
216 Eric Li
217 Sophia Kuo
221 Michelle Huang
224 Matthew Chien
239 Angelina Tan
243 Tiffany Guan
244 Eileen Chen
251 Min Kim
Outstanding Nocturne
223 Viet Ha
236 Elaine See Toh
Senior Awards
Medalists
306 Harry Sha, Nocturne in B Major, Op. 9, No. 3, SILVER MEDAL
307 Sonia Zhang, Polonaise in C-sharp minor, Op. 26, No. 1, BRONZE MEDAL
309 Sam Goldfarb, Scherzo in B-flat minor, Op. 31, GOLD MEDAL
315 Ned Yu, Etude in B minor, Op. 25, No. 10, BRONZE MEDAL
317 Alex Hu, Etude in A minor, Op. 25, No. 11, SILVER MEDAL
324 Kellen Cao, Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1, SILVER MEDAL
332 Erin Fitzgerald, Sonata in B minor, Op. 58, Movement 1, BRONZE MEDAL
336 Yufni Haenisch, Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35, Grave – Doppio movimento, BRONZE MEDAL
Honorable Mention
303 Padt Skawratananond
305 Scarlet-Emma Tallman
311 Sophie Lee
318 Sarah Qi
320 Michael Chung
321 Saranna Zhang
327 Will Newman
334 Alton Shen
337 Everett Adkins
339 Peter Zong
Outstanding Nocturne
318 Sarah Qi
339 Peter Zong
Jan Ekier Award
The Best Performance of the Most Difficult Piece
309 Sam Goldfarb
Semi-Final Round
We are pleased to announce that we received over 140 applicants - a record - with an absolutely outstanding level of playing. As such, we will have a record number of performances over the weekend: 124 contestants will play. To accommodate this large number of performances, we will be operating two performance rooms throughout the weekend. Unlike previous years, we will have the Juniors and Seniors playing Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning through afternoon. The Finals will be Sunday late afternoon.
The list of Semi-Finalists with a schedule is shown below. In general, contestants are ordered from youngest to oldest. We have tried our best to accommodate the requested scheduling needs. However, we have limited flexibility in adjusting the schedule due to the large number of players.
Please arrive at least 30 minutes before the performance time and check in at the front desk. Contestants will be given an identification number, program and certificate. Contestants will be allowed a warm-up time of 10 minutes.
It is NOT necessary for the contestants to bring their sheet music.
At the performance, contestants should begin playing without trying out the piano, i.e. no scales or chords before playing.
Contestants may play their pieces in any order they wish.
The Finalists will be announced at the end of deliberations after the performance of the category participants, as shown below. The Final round will take place on Sunday afternoon at 5:00PM. The awards ceremony will follow after the judges deliberations. All award winners, such as Honorable Mentions, must attend the Final Round in order to collect their award. Attendees will have a chance to win prizes in a raffle in which everyone is eligible.
All performances, including the Finals, are free and open to the public.
We congratulate all of our Semi-Finalists and look forward to hearing these performances.
Elementary (Saturday Morning, Room 1)
Andrew Zhao 9:00 AM
Carl Rubly 9:07 AM
Nathan Wang 9:16 AM
Charles Han 9:24 AM
Michelle Cheng 9:31 AM
Thomas Liew 9:37 AM
Ichiro Lin 9:43 AM
Sheila Dickinson 9:51 AM
Alexis Chen 10:09 AM
Josephine Chow 10:21 AM
Erika Wang 10:33 AM
Enyang Jiang 10:42 AM
Daniel Pan 11:05 AM
Ashley Kim 11:13 AM
Owen Sun 11:22 AM
Brayden Cheang 11:28 AM
Elementary (Saturday Morning, Room 2)
Irene Liu 9:00 AM
Hannah Nguyen 9:10 AM
Hiroaki Suzuki 9:17 AM
Arthur Zhou 9:24 AM
Shriram Rajagopal 9:36 AM
Chris Hao 9:43 AM
Zide Chen 9:50 AM
Richard Chen 10:08 AM
Lydia Luo 10:17 AM
Justin Liu 10:25 AM
Cynthia Kuo-Lo 10:34 AM
Feliks Lin 10:43 AM
Michelle Hung 10:52 AM
Takaaki Suzuki 11:11 AM
Hannah Court 11:25 AM
Michelle Liu 11:34 AM
Announcement of Elementary Finalists: 12:00PM
Junior (Saturday Afternoon, Room 2)
Daniel Chen 1:00 PM
Julianne Choe 1:09 PM
Michael Shi Huang 1:24 PM
Olivia Tu 1:33 PM
Vincent Cao 1:42 PM
Elizabeth Yao 1:50 PM
Alexander Zhong 2:10 PM
Taylor Park 2:17 PM
Andrew Maxwell Liu 2:28 PM
Emma Chung 2:37 PM
Chloe Luo 2:47 PM
Yixuan Chen 3:09 PM
Sophie Cai 3:18 PM
Aien Du 3:27 PM
Princeton Nguyen 3:34 PM
Eric Li 3:41 PM
Sophia Kuo 3:49 PM
David Liu 4:06 PM
Joseph Zhou 4:14 PM
Rebecca Luo 4:25 PM
Michelle Huang 4:37 PM
Kevin Chen 4:47 PM
Viet Ha 5:05 PM
Matthew Chien 5:14 PM
Daniel Robbins 5:25 PM
Ashley Jun 5:35 PM
Noah Court 5:52 PM
Junior (Sunday Morning and Afternoon, Room 2)
Zoë Lelevich 9:00 AM
Harrison Yu 9:07 AM
Justin Sun 9:17 AM
Katharine Yao 9:35 AM
Victor Cai 9:45 AM
Audrey Wang 9:56 AM
Fu Chen 10:13 AM
Song Yue David Li 10:25 AM
Elaine See Toh 10:35 AM
Deborah Chung 10:47 AM
Richard Wang 10:55 AM
Angelina Tan 11:13 AM
Justin Kwon 11:24 AM
Shonn Huang 11:33 AM
Stephanie Ma 11:42 AM
(break)
Tiffany Guan 1:00 PM
Eileen Chen 1:10 PM
Timothy Guan 1:25 PM
Manyaa Bhatia 1:36 PM
Jason Nguyen 1:43 PM
Quin Jamison 2:06 PM
Yuxi Lu 2:17 PM
Raymond Xu 2:26 PM
Min Kim 2:36 PM
Announcement of Junior Finalists: Sunday, 3:00PM
Senior (Saturday Afternoon, Room 1)
Ellen Foreman 1:00 PM
Jayden Bautista 1:13 PM
Padt Skawratananond 1:25 PM
Dean Wincentsen 1:40 PM
Scarlet-Emma Tallman 1:47 PM
Harry Sha 2:12 PM
Sonia Zhang 2:23 PM
Michael Wu 2:38 PM
Sam Goldfarb 2:53 PM
Eric S. Huang 3:21 PM
Sophie Lee 3:31 PM
Jinqiu Wei 3:47 PM
Hari Rajagopal 3:59 PM
Miette Rodriguez 4:19 PM
Ned Yu 4:30 PM
John Dong 4:42 PM
Alex Hu 4:52 PM
Sarah Qi 5:01 PM
Ryan Chen 5:21 PM
Michael Chung 5:33 PM
Saranna Zhang 5:44 PM
Senior (Sunday Morning and Afternoon, Room 1)
Mei Dickinson 9:00 AM
Owen Zhang 9:10 AM
Kellen Cao 9:21 AM
Fanying Tang 9:39 AM
Zoe Ehrlich 9:49 AM
Will Newman 10:10 AM
Savanah Antwine 10:21 AM
Luke Vizzini 10:34 AM
Alice Tian 10:44 AM
Scott Crowe 11:06 AM
Erin Fitzgerald 11:20 AM
Joshua Chiang 11:37 AM
(break)
Alton Shen 1:00 PM
Shadt Skawratananond 1:13 PM
Yufni Haenisch 1:23 PM
Everett Adkins 1:37 PM
Daniel Ting 2:01 PM
Peter Zong 2:17 PM
Thomas Do 2:27 PM
Abigail Bradshaw 2:45 PM
Announcement of Senior Finalists: Sunday, 3:30PM
Final Round and Awards Ceremony
Sunday 5:00 to 8:00PM
Rules and Repertoire
The Eleventh International Chopin Youth Competition will take place Saturday and Sunday, October 26 and 27, 2019 at the Kawai Piano Gallery on Richmond Ave in Houston, Texas. It is open to pre-college pianists. The application deadline is Saturday, October 5, 2019.
The application fee is $75. All information, including payment, will be made through our web site. This will be done through our Store. To apply, purchase the appropriate category: Elementary, Junior or Senior. Then select the required Nocturne. In the additional fields enter the remaining pieces (with times), the YouTube link (see following) and the teacher's name, email and phone number. Applicant contact information (student's name, email, address and phone number) will be entered when completing the purchase.
Contestants must enter a Preliminary round prior to the main event by preparing a video of the entire performance and uploading the video to YouTube. The link should be provided on the application form. No titles or names should appear on the recording but should be on the description of the video. Individual pieces may be recorded separately but no editing of individual pieces is allowed.
Successful contestants that pass the Preliminary round will be posted on our Website.
The contestants will be judged by a panel of outstanding musicians. Written comments from the judges will be available following the competition.
Gold medalists of previous competitions may not compete in the same age category. They may compete in another age category if of the appropriate age.
Repertoire Requirements
Contestants are required to perform a selection of one longer or several shorter compositions of Fryderyk Chopin and, in addition, one Nocturne chosen from the list given below. Contestants are limited to the total time including the required Nocturne.
There are three different age categories and time limits (including the required Nocturne):
• Elementary: K1 - 5 (DOB on or after 9/1/08), 8-minute limit
• Junior: Grade 6 - 8 (DOB between 9/1/05 and 8/31/08), 10-minute limit
• Senior: Grade 9 -12 (DOB between 9/1/01 and 8/31/05), 12-minute limit
If several smaller works are performed, they should be contrasting in either style or tempo. If a contestant wishes to perform one larger composition (such as a Ballade or Scherzo), which exceeds the time limit, he/she is allowed to play it along with the required Nocturne. Judges reserve the right to cut a performance that exceeds the time limit. These rules apply to all age groups.
Unlike previous competitions, contestants may choose from this list of Nocturnes regardless of category:
A warm-up time 15 minutes before the performance will be allowed in designated practice rooms.
Contestants are responsible for their own travel and lodging arrangements.
Awards
• Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals in each category
• Honorable Mentions as deserved
• Special Prize for the best Nocturne in each category
• Special Prize for the best among the youngest performers
• Jan Ekier Prize for the best performance of the most difficult work
The judges’ decisions will be final and cannot be appealed.
Any further questions please contact us via email. We will answer in as timely a manner as possible.
The application fee is $75. All information, including payment, will be made through our web site. This will be done through our Store. To apply, purchase the appropriate category: Elementary, Junior or Senior. Then select the required Nocturne. In the additional fields enter the remaining pieces (with times), the YouTube link (see following) and the teacher's name, email and phone number. Applicant contact information (student's name, email, address and phone number) will be entered when completing the purchase.
Contestants must enter a Preliminary round prior to the main event by preparing a video of the entire performance and uploading the video to YouTube. The link should be provided on the application form. No titles or names should appear on the recording but should be on the description of the video. Individual pieces may be recorded separately but no editing of individual pieces is allowed.
Successful contestants that pass the Preliminary round will be posted on our Website.
The contestants will be judged by a panel of outstanding musicians. Written comments from the judges will be available following the competition.
Gold medalists of previous competitions may not compete in the same age category. They may compete in another age category if of the appropriate age.
Repertoire Requirements
Contestants are required to perform a selection of one longer or several shorter compositions of Fryderyk Chopin and, in addition, one Nocturne chosen from the list given below. Contestants are limited to the total time including the required Nocturne.
There are three different age categories and time limits (including the required Nocturne):
• Elementary: K1 - 5 (DOB on or after 9/1/08), 8-minute limit
• Junior: Grade 6 - 8 (DOB between 9/1/05 and 8/31/08), 10-minute limit
• Senior: Grade 9 -12 (DOB between 9/1/01 and 8/31/05), 12-minute limit
If several smaller works are performed, they should be contrasting in either style or tempo. If a contestant wishes to perform one larger composition (such as a Ballade or Scherzo), which exceeds the time limit, he/she is allowed to play it along with the required Nocturne. Judges reserve the right to cut a performance that exceeds the time limit. These rules apply to all age groups.
Unlike previous competitions, contestants may choose from this list of Nocturnes regardless of category:
- Nocturne in B-flat minor, Op. 9, No. 1
- Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2
- Nocturne in B Major, Op. 9, No. 3
- Nocturne in F Major, Op. 15, No. 1
- Nocturne in F-sharp Major, Op. 15, No. 2
- Nocturne in G-minor, Op. 15, No. 3
- Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 1
- Nocturne in D-flat Major, Op. 27, No. 2
- Nocturne in B Major, Op. 32, No. 1
- Nocturne in A-flat Major, Op. 32, No. 2
- Nocturne in G minor, Op. 37, No. 1
- Nocturne in G Major, Op. 37, No. 2
- Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1
- Nocturne in F-sharp minor, Op. 48, No. 2
- Nocturne in F minor, Op. 55, No. 1
- Nocturne in E-flat Major, Op. 55, No. 2
- Nocturne in B Major, Op. 62, No. 1
- Nocturne in E Major, Op. 62, No. 2
- Nocturne in E minor, Op. 72, No. 1
- Nocturne in C-sharp minor, Op. Posth. (Lento con gran espressione)
- Nocturne in C minor, Op. Posth.
A warm-up time 15 minutes before the performance will be allowed in designated practice rooms.
Contestants are responsible for their own travel and lodging arrangements.
Awards
• Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals in each category
• Honorable Mentions as deserved
• Special Prize for the best Nocturne in each category
• Special Prize for the best among the youngest performers
• Jan Ekier Prize for the best performance of the most difficult work
The judges’ decisions will be final and cannot be appealed.
Any further questions please contact us via email. We will answer in as timely a manner as possible.