About Piano Cleveland

Young Artists Return in 2018

August 10th 2017
Young Artists

A little more than two years ago a select group of exceptionally talented young pianists surprised and delighted the audiences, critics, and jury members in attendance at the 2015 CIPC for Young Artists. The level of skill and poise displayed by the young virtuosos was, according to the Plain Dealer, “remarkable to behold,” and seasoned veterans of competition watching were captivated by their performances.

CIPC is pleased to announce that CIPC for Young Artists will be held again this year, presenting another opportunity for young pianists to hone their performance skills and audiences to catch an early look at rising stars.

The event will be held May 30 through June 9, 2018. Twenty pianists in two age groups will be invited to participate following a rigorous, worldwide preliminary screening round: ten in the junior division (ages 12 to 14) and ten in the senior division (ages 15 to 17). The opening ceremony, solo rounds, guest artist performances, and master classes will be held at the Cleveland Institute of Music. The final round, during which three finalists from each division will perform with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, will be held at the Maltz Performing Arts Center.

Contestants will be announced March 1.

Once in Cleveland, all contestants will perform before audiences and a second, competition jury. The jury will hear all contestants in two solo rounds, then vote as follows: advance six contestants from each division to the solo semi-final round; advance three contestants from each division to the final concerto round, where each pianist will perform with an orchestra; rank all finalists and award first, second, and third prizes in each division.

The 11-day event will be highlighted by a number of additional concerts, events, and activities designed to broaden the educational experience for the young pianists and add to the enjoyment of piano music enthusiasts. Of particular interest is the opening ceremony, which will include a concerto performance by Leonid Nediak with Cleveland’s Contemporary Youth Orchestra. Mr. Nediak charmed the audience in 2015 on his way to winning the Audience Prize and second prize in the Junior Division; the Contemporary Youth Orchestra is a professional orchestra of young musicians that imbues every performance with excitement, energy and joy.

Tickets for all events will be available in January. Please read on for additional details.

SCHEDULE

May 30
Opening Ceremony
Cleveland Institute of Music
Performance by Leonid Nediak and the Contemporary Youth Orchestra
All contestants and members of the jury will be introduced on stage, and an open reception will follow the performance.

May 31 – June 1
First Round
Cleveland Institute of Music
All junior division contestants perform 20-minute solo programs
All senior division contestants perform 25-minute solo programs

June 2 – 3
Second Round
Cleveland Institute of Music
All junior division contestants perform 20-minute solo programs
All senior division contestants perform 25-minute solo programs

June 4
Cleveland Institute of Music
Guest artist performance by Drew Petersen, winner of the 2017 American Pianist Association Award and the accompanying $100,000 Christel DeHaan Classical Fellowship.

June 5 – 6
Semi-final Round
Cleveland Institute of Music
Six contestants from the junior division perform 30-minute solo programs
Six contestants from the senior division perform 45-minute solo programs

JUNE 7
Cleveland Institute of Music
Soyeon Kate Lee and Ran Dank, both of whom are previous CIPC medalists, return to perform together for Cleveland audiences.

June 8
Final Round
Maltz Performing Arts Center
Three contestants from the junior division and three contestants from the senior division perform as soloists with the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Gerhardt Zimmermann conductor. Winners will be announced on stage following the performances.

June 9
Award Ceremony and Encore Performances
Bravissimo Gala
Location to be determined
Prizes will be awarded and the medalists will perform encore recitals, followed by a celebration gala to benefit the Cleveland International Piano Competition.

SCREENING JURY

Paul Schenly, Chair (USA)
Emanuela Friscioni (Italy)
Stanislav Khristenko (Ukraine)
Caroline Oltmanns (Germany)
Pierre van der Westhuizen, President and CEO, Cleveland International Piano Competition

COMPETITION JURY

Paul Schenly, Chair (USA)
Antonio di Cristofano (Italy)
Alexander Ghindin (Russia)
Olga Gradojevich (USA/Serbia)
Yaron Kohlberg (Israel)
Leonel Morales (Spain/Cuba)
Marco Sollini (Italy)
Truida van der Walt (South Africa)

PRIZES

Senior Division Prizes
First Prize: $25,000, presented by Zoya Reyzis
Second Prize: $10,000
Third Prize: $5,000

Junior Division Prizes
First Prize: $10,000
Second Prize: $5,000
Third Prize: $2,500

Additional Prizes
A guest artist concerto performance during a future season of the Canton Symphony Orchestra, Gerhardt Zimmermann, conductor.

The artist selected to perform with the Canton Symphony Orchestra also has been invited to perform a solo recital on the Faculty Artist Series at Malone University, a private liberal arts college located in Canton, Ohio.

An invitation from the International Franz Liszt Competition in the Netherlands to perform at Amsterdam’s famous Grachtenfestival in the summer of 2018.  Participation includes includes the Competition’s Master Class Academy in Utrecht and Amsterdam, which features master classes in solo piano and chamber music, an entertaining cooking clinic, media training, and guided tours of Dutch cultural gems such as the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum.  Transportation, board, lodging, and tuition will be provided.

An invitation to participate in Pianofest in the Hamptons, a summer festival offering exceptionally concentrated study to a small group of pianists selected by audition.

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Gastón Frydman

Argentinian pianist Gastón Frydman possesses a voracious curiosity to explore the limits of what a 'classical music' concert means. He has won numerous awards and has performed in notable venues across the world as a soloist and as a chamber musician. In 2018, after receiving an invitation from Sergei Babayan, Frydman began his studies with Antonio Pompa-Baldi at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He received his Bachelor in Piano Performance and is currently pursuing his Master's with a specialization in Pedagogy at CIM.

Eva Gevorgyan

Critics rave at her “emotional eloquence and impeccable technique” combined with all “the important features of a mature master” (ICMA): 18-year old Armenian pianist Eva Gevorgyan has quickly established herself as one of the most promising talents in the pianistic world.

Eva Gevorgyan has performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Mariinsky Orchestra, National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, Russian National Orchestra, State Academic Symphony Orchestra “Evgeny Svetlanov”, Canton Symphony Orchestra, Armenian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Malta Philharmonic and others. She has already performed at major concert venues including the Royal Albert Hall, Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle, the Mariinsky Concert Hall, Moscow Conservatory Great Hall, and KKL Lucerne. Eva has participated in the Verbier Festival, Duszniki International Chopin Piano Festival, Stars of the White Nights Festival, Eilat Chamber Music Festival, Palermo Classica Festival, the Perugia Piano Festival, ClaviCologne Festival and Klassik vor Acht, Jeune Chopin à Cannes, Ferrara Piano Festival, Elena Cobb Star Prize Festival, Fränkische Musiktage Alzenau and others. In January 2020 Eva was invited to perform in Yerevan in front of the President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian and his spouse. At the Alto Adige Festival she performed in the presence of Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella.

Eva has appeared with such conductors as Vladimir Spivakov, Lawrence Foster, Vasily Petrenko, Valery Gergiev, Alexander Sladkovsky, Roberto Beltrán-Zavala, Eduard Topchjan, Dimitris Botinis, Piotr Gribanov, Tigran Hakhnazaryan, Ruth Reinhardt, Anatoly Levin, Ilmar Lapinsh, and others.

At the XVIII International Chopin Competition in Warsaw Eva Gevorgyan was the youngest finalist. Evgeny Kissin chose Eva Gevorgyan as a scholar of the 2020 Klavierfestival Ruhr. Eva was also an ICMA Discovery Award winner at the 2019 International Classical Music Awards. She is a grand-prix winner of the Russian National Orchestra Competition in 2021. In total, Eva has received awards at more than forty international competitions for piano and composition in the United States, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, and Russia among others, including First Prize at the Cleveland International Piano Competition for Young Artists (incl. special prize for the best interpretation of Bach and Canton Symphony Orchestra Prize), First Prize at the Robert Schumann Piano Competition in Dusseldorf, Second Prize and the Press Award at the Cliburn Junior International Piano Competition, Grand Prix and special prize for best Chopin interpretation at the Chicago International Music Competition, and First Prize at the Jeune Chopin International Piano Competition in Martigny. She has been a laureate and received five special prizes at Moscow’s Grand Piano International Competition. Eva also won First Prizes at the Chopin International Piano Competition for Young Pianists in Szafarnia, Poland, and Portugal’s St. Cecilia International Piano Competition, and won the Grand Prix at the International Piano Competition of Giuliano Pecar in Gorizia, Italy. Eva was awarded the Junior Prize (City Prize) at the Eppan Junior Piano Academy (Italy).

Eva is a Young Yamaha Artist. She received a scholarship from the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein and participates regularly in the intensive music weeks and activities offered by the Academy. She also holds scholarships from YerazArt Foundation, Foundation Artis Futura, and from the Armenian Assembly.

Eva Gevorgyan was born in April 2004. After studies with Natalia Trull at the Central Music School in Moscow, she joined the Reina Sofia School of Music in Madrid, where she continues to study with Stanislav Ioudenitch. Eva was invited to the International Piano Academy Lake Como, where she participated in masterclasses with Dmitry Bashkirov, Stanislav Ioudenitch and William Nabore. She has also participated in masterclasses with Pavel Gililov, Grigory Gruzman, Piotr Paleczny, Andrea Bonatta and Klaus Hellwig.

John Zion

John Zion serves as the Managing Director of MKI Artists, one of the leading classical music management agencies in the United States where he directs the careers of a prestigious roster of artists, ensembles, and composers. He is also a co-founder of OurConcerts.live that produced and streamed more than 300 concerts during the pandemic and continues to provide access to live music to audiences around the world.

Also an active consultant, John works with artists, administrators, and arts organizations on career development, project management, and digital marketing. John serves on the board of Chamber Music America and has guest lectured and presented on arts-related issues at the Colburn School of Music, University of Michigan, Manhattan School of Music, Banff Centre, APAP|NYC, and Chamber Music America’s National Conference. He was named one of the “Rising Stars in the Performing Arts” by Musical America in 2012 and received a BM in Violin Performance from the Hartt School of Music.

Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero’s visionary interpretations and unique compositional gifts have garnered her critical acclaim and a devoted following on the world stage. Anthony Tommasini remarked in The New York Times that “Montero’s playing had everything: crackling rhythmic brio, subtle shadings, steely power…soulful lyricism…unsentimental expressivity.”

Recipient of the prestigious 2018 Heidelberger Frühling Music Prize, Montero’s recent and forthcoming highlights include debuts with the New World Symphony (Michael Tilson Thomas), Yomiuri Nippon Symphony in Tokyo (Aziz Shokhakimov), Orquesta de Valencia (Pablo Heras-Casado), and the Bournemouth Symphony (Carlos Miguel Prieto), the latter of which featured her as Artist-in-Residence for the 2019-2020 season. Montero also recently performed her own “Latin” Concerto with the Orchestra of the Americas at the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie and Edinburgh Festival, as well as at Carnegie Hall and the New World Center with the NYO2. Additional highlights include a planned European tour with the City of Birmingham Symphony and Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla; a second tour with the cutting edge Scottish Ensemble, this time with Montero’s latest composition Babel as the centrepiece of the programme; her long-awaited return to Warsaw for the Chopin in Europe Festival, marking 23 years since her prize win at the International Chopin Piano Competition; and return invitations to work with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony, Jaime Martin and the Orquestra de Cadaqués for concerts in Madrid and Barcelona, and Alexander Shelley and the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada.

Celebrated for her exceptional musicality and ability to improvise, Montero has performed with many of the world’s leading orchestras to date, including: the Royal Liverpool, Rotterdam, Dresden, Oslo, Vienna Radio, and Netherlands Radio philharmonic orchestras; the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, NDR Sinfonieorchester Hamburg, NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, Zürcher Kammerorchester, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and Australian Chamber Orchestra; the Pittsburgh, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, Toronto, Baltimore, Vienna, City of Birmingham, Barcelona, Lucerne, and Sydney symphony orchestras; the Belgian National Orchestra, Württembergisches Kammerorchester.

A graduate and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Montero is also a frequent recitalist and chamber musician, having given concerts at such distinguished venues as the Wigmore Hall, Kennedy Center, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Cologne Philharmonie, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Munich Herkulessaal, Sydney Opera House, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Lisbon Gulbenkian Museum, Manchester Bridgewater Hall, Seoul’s LG Arts Centre, Hong Kong City Hall, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, and at the Barbican’s ‘Sound Unbound’, Edinburgh, Salzburg, SettembreMusica in Milan and Turin, Lucerne, Ravinia, Gstaad, Saint-Denis, Violon sur le Sable, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Rheingau, Ruhr, Trondheim, Bergen, and Lugano festivals.

Montero is also an award-winning and bestselling recording artist. Her most recent album, released in autumn 2019 on the Orchid Classics label, features her own “Latin” Concerto and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, recorded with the Orchestra of the Americas in Frutillar, Chile. Her previous recording on Orchid Classics features Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and her first orchestral composition, Ex Patria, winning Montero her first Latin Grammy® for Best Classical Album (Mejor Álbum de Música Clásica). Others include Bach and Beyond, which held the top spot on the Billboard Classical Charts for several months and garnered her two Echo Klassik Awards: the 2006 Keyboard Instrumentalist of the Year and 2007 Award for Classical Music without Borders. In 2008, she also received a Grammy® nomination for her album Baroque, and in 2010 she released Solatino, a recording inspired by her Venezuelan homeland and devoted to works by Latin American composers.

Montero made her formal debut as a composer with Ex Patria, a tone poem designed to illustrate and protest Venezuela’s descent into lawlessness, corruption, and violence. The piece was premiered in 2011 by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Montero’s first full-length composition, Piano Concerto No. 1, the “Latin“ Concerto, was first performed at the Leipzig Gewandhaus with the MDR Sinfonieorchester and Kristjan Järvi, and subsequently recorded and filmed with the Orchestra of the Americas for the ARTE Konzert channel.

Winner of the 4th International Beethoven Award, Montero is a committed advocate for human rights, whose voice regularly reaches beyond the concert hall. She was named an Honorary Consul by Amnesty International in 2015, and recognised with Outstanding Work in the Field of Human Rights by the Human Rights Foundation for her ongoing commitment to human rights advocacy in Venezuela. She was invited to participate in the 2013 Women of the World Festival at London’s Southbank Centre, and has spoken and performed twice at the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters. She was also awarded the 2012 Rockefeller Award for her contribution to the arts and was a featured performer at Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Inauguration.

Born in Venezuela, Montero started her piano studies at age four with Lyl Tiempo, making her concerto debut at age eight in her hometown of Caracas. This led to a scholarship from the government to study privately in the USA and then at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Hamish Milne.