Winners of the Paderewski Youth Piano competition announces
–The Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles has announced the results of the 2018 Youth Piano Competition. The auditions were held at the Park Ballroom in Paso Robles on Saturday, Oct. 20. There were a total of fourteen contestants, nine in the Junior Division (ages 9-14) and five in the Senior Division (ages 15-18). Jurors included Cal Poly SLO faculty members India D’Avignon and Paul Woodring, and Marek Zebrowski, Director of the Polish Music Center at the USC Thornton School of Music and Artistic Director of the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles.
In the Junior Division, the 2018 Youth Competition winners include Noelle Hadsall (9) from Santa Barbara, CA (Third Prize), Andy Shen (12) from San Luis Obispo, CA (Second Prize), and Suri Kim (10), from Orcutt, CA (First Prize).
In the Senior Division, the winners include Xinyun Liu (17) from Salinas, CA (Second Prize), and Max Afifi (18) from Seaside, CA (First Prize).
Individual cash prizes range from $200-750 and two Youth Competition finalists will be chosen for an all- expenses paid Cultural Exchange program in Poland in summer of 2019, organized under the auspices of the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles.
The Youth Piano Competition Winners’ Recital is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. at the Paso Robles Inn Ballroom. Admission is free and open to the public. The audience is encouraged to visit the Paderewski Festival Website (www.paderewskifest.com) to secure a seat at that event. A program of works by Frédéric Chopin, Joseph Haydn, Paul Hindemith, Dmitry Kabalevsky, Franz Liszt, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ignacy Jan Paderewski will be presented by these talented young Central Coast pianists.
The Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles presents an annual series of concerts and events honoring the significant and close ties of pianist, composer, statesman and humanitarian, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860- 1941) to Paso Robles and California’s Central Coast Region. Held from Nov. 1-4, this year’s festival highlights include the Cass Winery Concert featuring pianist, composer and sound-designer Corey Jordan (Nov. 1), Three Paderewskis—a world premiere of a musical about Paderewski (Nov. 2), and a Gala Concert with pianist Kate Liu, Third Prize winner of the 2015 Chopin Competition in Warsaw (Nov. 3). Ms. Liu will also give a master class to pianists on Nov. 2, and young pianists from Poland and Ukraine visiting on a Cultural Exchange Program will be presented in concert at Cal Poly SLO on Nov. 1 and Halter Ranch on Nov. 4. Further details and ticket information are available at www.paderewskifest.com.
Comments
