Seong-Jin Cho

Yesterday evening (20 October) the Jury of the 17th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw announced the prizes for their 2015 edition. Winner of the First prize and gold medal ist Seong-Jin Cho, 21, from South-Korea. The Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin won Second prize and silver medal, Kate Liu (USA) took Third prize and bronze medal. Read More →

Vladimir Fedoseyev
(c) Roman Goncharov

Russian Conductor Vladimir Fedoseyev has walked out from a new production of Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. The opera is to premiere October 28 and will now be conducted by Anton Grishanin. No reason was given for the replacement but rumours say, Fedoseyev was upset over working conditions at the opera house.

Kent Nagano
(c) Benjamin Ealovega

Ein Pariser Gericht hat die Produktionsfirma ‘BelAir Média’ dazu verurteilt, die Videos mit der Aufführung der Oper ‘Dialogues des carmélites’ in der Inszenierung von Dmitri Tcherniakov aus dem Verkauf zu nehmen. Es handelt sich dabei um eine Aufführung der Bayerischen Staatsoper unter der Leitung von Kent Nagano aus dem Jahre 2010, die bereits sehr viel Staub aufgewirbelt hat. Read More →

The Chopin Museum in Warsaw
(c) Remy Franck

Miami-based Chopin Foundation of the United States has donated a Pleyel upright piano dating from 1847 and containing Chopin’s signature to the Chopin Museum in Warsaw. The instrument has been on display in the Polish museum for the past few years as a deposit, but now the Chopin Foundation of the United States transferred the property rights to the Chopin Museum. The piano was selected by Chopin himself at the Pleyel factory in Paris for one of his pupils and it was at that person’s request that the composer put his signature inside the instrument so that it could be easily recognized.

The reform of the system of presidential grants in Russia has been postponed indefinitely after the Ministry of Culture refused the idea of distributing grants on the basis of a contest. The Ministry prepared a list of grantees for 2016, which consists, as previously, of the 83 leading cultural institutions. In total, they will receive 5 billion roubles (ca. 71 million Euros).

The Philadelphia Orchestra Association announced the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement with their musicians, effective September 14, 2015, through September 11, 2016. Under the terms of the agreement, annual salaries for the musicians will rise 3%. Read More →

Elena und Sophie Schwalbe
© Bechstein Stiftung

Glückliche Gesichter im Kulturstall von Schloss Britz in Berlin: Preise im Wert von mehr als 10.000 Euro vergab die Carl Bechstein Stiftung am vergangenen Sonntag beim Preisträgerkonzert des zweiten Carl Bechstein Wettbewerbs für Kinder und Jugendliche. 27 Duos in den Besetzungen Violine und Klavier bzw. Violoncello und Klavier aus ganz Deutschland nahmen an dem Wettbewerb teil. Read More →

Russian Pianist Dmitri Teterin, born in Moscow in 1971, has died on October 18 at the age of 44. Teterin studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory and also at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He won many international competitions, including the International Gina Bachauer Competition in Salt Lake City in 1994 (2nd prize), the International Piano Competition in Cleveland in 1995 (3 awards), the International Piano Competition in Palm Beach in 1998 (1st prize) as well as the International Piano Competition in Cincinnati in 1998 (1st prize). In recent years his international career slowed down due to his teaching at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow.

Chopin Monument Zelazova-Wola
Photo: Remy Franck

The jury of the 17th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw has announced the names of ten finalists. Pianists from eight countries will compete: two Americans of Asian descent (Kate Liu and Eric Lu), two Canadians (Tony Yang and Charles Richard Hamelin) and participants from Poland (Szymon Nehring), Russia (Dmitry Shishkin), Croatia (Aljosa Jurinic), Japan (Aimi Kobayashi), Latvia (Georgijs Osokins) and South Korea (Seong-Jin Cho). The finals start this Sunday. The winners will be announced on Tuesday.

Katrin Lena Heles

Katrin Lena Heles hat am 15. Oktober von der Stiftung zur Förderung junger Künstler in Luxemburg den Förderpreis 2015 erhalten und im Preisträgerkonzert bewiesen, dass sie dieser Auszeichnung auch würdig ist. Remy Franck hat seine Eindrücke so zusammengefasst: Read More →