The Moscow International Chopin Piano Competition was held with the support of the RMU

From September 8 to September 18, 2016, the 10th Frederic Chopin Moscow International Young Pianists Competition was held in the capital. The founders of this prestigious competition are the Moscow Government, the Department of Culture of Moscow and the Frederic Chopin Society in Moscow with the assistance of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Russia, the Polish Cultural Center in Moscow. This year, one of the main partners of the competition was the Russian Musical Union. Greetings to the contest were sent by the President of the Russian Federation, V.V. Putin, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, V.R. Medinsky, mayor of Moscow, S.S. Sobyanin.

The history of the Frederic Chopin Moscow international competitions of young pianists dates back to the formation of the Frederic Chopin Society in Moscow in 1991, celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2016. Since 1992, competitions in Moscow are held regularly every four years. They precede the world’s major Chopin “battles” in the homeland of the Polish genius – in Warsaw. 15 laureates of the Moscow competition became triumphers in Warsaw, Ram Urasin, Dong Min Lim and Dong Haik Lim, Lucas Geniushas, Daniil Trifonov, Nikolai Khozyainov and the absolute winner of the Warsaw 2015 contest, Cho Seong Jin, among them.

The 10th, jubilee competition in Moscow was held in two age categories: up to 16 years inclusive, up to 21 years. The selection was based on video recordings, 27 performers in the junior group and 14 in the youth group were admitted to the contest. They represented 9 countries: Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Canada, China, the Republic of Korea, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, Croatia.

The jury was headed by Mikhail Voskresensky, People’s Artist of the Russian Federation, professor at the Moscow Conservatory, and the jury member of the Warsaw Contest 2015, Katarzyna Popova-Zydron (Poland), Professor Dang Thai Son (Canada-Vietnam), Balash Sokolai (Hungary), Lee Ming Chang (China), Dong Min Lim (Republic of Korea), artistic director of the competition, Mikhail Aleksandrov (Russia), Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Lev Shugom (Russia). Masterclasses of jury members were held.

Auditions of the first three rounds took place in the concert hall of the Central Music School at the Moscow Conservatory, and the finals of the competition and the award ceremony were held in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. The Symphony Orchestra of the F. Chopin Moscow State College of Music Performance (artistic director and chief conductor – Honored Artist of Russia, Vladimir Ryzhaev) took part in the final round and gala concert.

WINNERS

Youth Group

I Prize – Konstantin Khachikyan, Russia (Moscow Conservatory, class of Prof. A. Pisarev)

II Prize – Andrey Zenin, Russia (Rostov Conservatory, class of Prof. R. Skorokhodova)

III Prize – Ivan Krpan, Croatia (Zagreb Academy of Music, class of Prof. R. Dalibaltayan)

Junior Group

I Prize – Aleksandr Bolotin, Russia (SSMSH at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, class of Prof. A. Sandler)

II Prize — Zheng Boyan, China (music school at the Shanghai Conservatory, Teacher Ch. Ting)

III Prize — Zheng Haiwei, China (Central Music School of the Moscow Conservatory, class of Prof. Y. Slesarev)